Im driving into work this morning and I am listening to "In This Bed I Scream" from the Emancipation album. Not one of my favorites, but I still like the song. I love the music portion at the end when Prince is playing bass. It really rocks the Joint. I thought to myself, I love the way Prince plays the bass. That led to a question I thought all of you would be intersested in playing with Which instrument do you like to hear Prince go off on ? Piano, lead guitar(often compared to Hendricks), bass, drums. Please respond. Im intersested in your opinions.

THE TUBA

The piano. *sigh*

Fonkay31 said:

The best Prince instrument is guitar and, assuming you are referring to Jimi Hendrix, it is not spelled Hendricks. If you were at Xenophobia, Prince settled which instrument his is the best on - even though his piano playing was breath taking.

piano

Fonkay31 said:

I'd have 2 say "the throat"
closely followed by keys...have U heard cold coffee and cocaine??? "shit, U can't fuck wit' this"

His guitar playing is very good, but he doesn't really have his own style. His piano playing is really amazing and stylistically cool, too (his hands look doublejointed + a TON of chordal information in a single song) but I think he is best at the bass. He really has his own slapping style and it's mind blowing. Listen to the bass part for the instrumental outtake Climax from 1984 if you have it. It's non-stop craziness for a non-solo bass part. I can only think of one better in the slap dept.

it used 2 b Mayte...

The guitar of course but all the instruments
since of seen him at the Park he plays all the
instruments with total balance. He is truely
amazing. 8)

Guitar bass piano

I always though it was the guitar, and I guess the piano also.
[This message was edited Tue Jul 2 22:14:07 PDT 2002 by Starmist7]

Vocal cords.

Good question Fonkay31. I am torn between bass and piano. Check out his Ray Charles-style electric piano on rehearsals for the Purple Rain tour. Amazing.
I agree with PopcornFetus regarding his guitar skills. Comparisons to Hendrix I have always found ridiculous. In share creativity with the guitar Hendrix soars miles above our Prince.

I think Prince's greatest musical gift is his great rhythm guitar playing. He is so funky doing that shit, you know, it makes me drop my jar! Listen to Erotic City, Everlasting now, She Loves Me 4 Me, etc., and U will know what I'm talking about.

His live guitarsolo's aren't that spectaculair IMO. I mean, they are not bad at all, but not outstanding like Jimi or Larry Carlton and other guitarplayers. Although Prince did some pretty impressive solo's on his studio recordings, I have to add.

I like his pianoplaying too (especially on One Nite Alone, the song!). And he's a real funky bassplayer as well...

The guitar - especially Cloud guitars. He seems to play them so naturally . . .

I disagree with PopcornFetus - I do think that Prince has his own style.

.

Hard to say as GREAT musicians disagree.

For instance, Clapton praises his guitar playing.
Miles thought Prince's drumming was best.
Michael B. (not saying he's in the realm of the above 2 musicians) thought Prince was best on bass but most creative on piano.

It would have to B the Base guitar! (He said on Larry King show that Bass is a Fish; Base is a Guitar) I like it best when he plays it on Emancipation. And back before he stopped cursing we chanted "Play that muthafucking BASE!"

Fonkay31 said:

You mean Jon Hendricks of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross or Jimi Hendrix
the guitarist? hate to nit-pick on speling errors,
but is this one of those times that details matter.

Prince has always been way underrated on the xylophone...and he can blow a kazoo like nobody's bidniz..

funkaholic1972 said:

This has to be the first time that I see somebody saying that Prince studio guitar solos are better than his live ones. Anyone agree? I always thought he lacks some of that wildness in the studio. I think he lets loose more live.

But I agree, his rhythm guitar is unbelievable (at least for me) sometimes. Check the guitar breaks during "Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothin'" from the NY aftershow.

piano-guitar (pretend its one instrument)

I really havent heard him play other instruments 2 much...but Im sure he's great at those 2.

.
[This message was edited Wed Jul 3 10:23:31 PDT 2002 by Nep2nes]

I think Prince is best on electric guitar, but I like 2 listen 2 him play drums, bass and keyboards... and sing with his multi-layered style. I don't think Prince plays like Jimi. If anything he's closer 2 Santana or even Jeff Beck from the clip on MTV that I saw. They had a special on guitarists and showed a brief live clip of Jeff Beck doing a solo which sounded very much like something Prince had done. 2 bad I don't what song Beck was playing. And as far as studio stuff, he has played some tunes that r better than some of his live stuff even though they were basically jams.

Piano--- I love the One Night Alone CD showcasing his talent with the piano as well as the music in the movie Under The Cherry Moon. My favorite part of his One Night Alone concert was the part where he sang songs while he played the piano...

guitar, keys & bass but don't u forget the drums (percussions) !!! have a listen 2 some Madhouse ...

Ive got to say his singing voice I think is the instrument he plays the best. He has so many different ways to sing.

My personal favourite is when his voice sounds either raw and a bit whiney, or low, total orgasm material (that sexy mutha...).

Therapy said:

Pfunkjazz is gonna love you, Therapy..lol...if only because you acknowledged the voice as an instrument.. 8)

Hi WB , how about "the mind".

The instrument Prince plays the best?

The Linn LM-1 Drum Machine.

No one programs or tweaks that thing the way he does.

(You could tell I'm a big Linn fan!)

Freespirit said:

LoL..that could be, too...although he'd be playing everyone else's "instrument"... 8)