Absolutely the Bbsus2 in 'Sometimes It Snows In April'..! You know, when he sings 'sometimes I WISH..' My God, why ruin such a beautiful song..?? He probably wanted a certain complexity, but that chord in that key just sounds so ugly...

The worst sounding thing I've heard him do is that chord in Money Don't Matter 2night - it's the 3rd chord in the sequence before he goes back to the root.

I appreciated the boldness, but it just sounds ugly

Absolutely the Bbsus2 in 'Sometimes It Snows In April'..! You know, when he sings 'sometimes I WISH..' My God, why ruin such a beautiful song..?? He probably wanted a certain complexity, but that chord in that key just sounds so ugly...

I started a thread last year about what the best Prince songs are in each key, and a lot of discussion came up about this Bb chord in "Sometimes It Snows In April". Yes, it sounds odd when u first listen 2 it, but once u play the song on the piano and realize what the chord progression is (A maj, Bb maj, B maj), it makes perfect sense because all Prince is doing is going straight up the ladder at that point in the song without worrying about if they fit the E major scale or not. Simple, yet genius.

I do want 2 add something though 2 the topic of "odd" chords Prince seems 2 add. At 6:24 into "The Holy River", which is clearly a song in the key of A, Prince suddenly throws a F maj-G maj progression and holds a G maj 4 a few measures before going back 2 E maj (which leads back into A). This throws me off everytime I hear it because it's just out of the A major scale, but again, all Prince is doing is going up a few notes (from E, which is in the scale of A, he goes up 2 F, then G).

Another example of a chord that throws me off is in the chorus of "Another Lonely Christmas" (written in B) when he sings the line "u are the one that makes my love shout". It's another unexpected G major chord with the bassline going up a few notes, just like the F# chord did in the previous line ("all the ones I dream about").

Where do u draw the line between thinking a chord in a Prince song is "bad" and realizing that the man is simply a musical visionary who conventionally uses unconventional chord progressions when he writes? It's all relative.
[Edited 4/8/06 11:46am]

Rudy said:

No way...

That Ebm chord is so awesome, especially when it goes to the Db right after.

Man, are my ears screwed up or what?

Please, nobody put down "Power Fantastic" or I'll die!

Absolutely the Bbsus2 in 'Sometimes It Snows In April'..! You know, when he sings 'sometimes I WISH..' My God, why ruin such a beautiful song..?? He probably wanted a certain complexity, but that chord in that key just sounds so ugly...

Maybe the GbMaj with the E in the bass?

NDRU said:

Is that the chord in Electric Chair you're talking about, I love that too.
Too me, it's typical Prince.
But I think that's just a regular Gb major chord there, no maj7. Coloring that chord with an E in the bass is genius, but putting an F in there too seems pointless.

CaptainJack said:

I was kind of kidding, just because that's one of the few times he mentions a chord by name. But I do like it, and it is an odd chord. Often you might see the opposite, like a Gb with a Ab in the bass (Luther's Never Too Much comes to mind), but I haven't really come across that Electric Chair chord much.

I like the chord in Arrogance that comes right after "Tootsie pop and a cane..." Sounds like all 12 notes at once.

In Lovesexy after they sing "Rain is wet...love calls you got to go," after the little bluesy line played in unison, they play a couple chords that are essentially 1/2 step apart, but odd chords.

And I love that chord on Sometimes it Snows in April.

Ice9sFine said:

I'm pretty flexible but when a song has ALL minor chords - I can't dig it. (Aren't all 3 chords minors? I'm not a student of music theory but I've got a decent ear)

NDRU: that Gb/E is pretty cool sounding. In essence, it's really a dominant seventh, third inversion. You hear it every once in a while in pop songs, when the harmonies sometimes go from the IV chord to the V7 with the bass note staying the same. Chorus to "God" comes to mind.

song.

Just a thought...I've always liked the chord that Prince sings in "When Doves Cry" before the last chorus before the solos. It's the part where he goes "Do be do wah ah ah ah ah ah wah oh oo," or something like that. Anybody know what I'm talking about? It sounds really cool, almost like a tone cluster, like every voice singing one of the white keys on the piano. It's one of my favorite parts in the song.

You know who really has some messed up chords is Stevie Wonder. He's so musical, you'll never hear him play chords just straight, and his chords are all over the place. I think partially it's cause he's blind. He doesn't know what he's supposed to be playing, he just plays what he hears, and it's obviously incredible.

Where do u draw the line between a crappy chord progression and musical "genius" or "visionary"?

DarlingDiana said:

Tough to say.

The Beatles' I Want To Tell You has an absolutely terrible piano chord (in my opinion) right after "My head is filled with things to say..."

But I bet some Harrison (or McCartney, who probably played the piano on it) fans would say it's brilliant.

I know someone who hated the opening chord to Hard Days Night. Go figure.

Stevie has a remarkable ability to turn a cliche chord change & melody on it's ear, like in Golden Lady

NDRU said:

That G7sus4 What was the point of that chord? ...

CaptainJack said:

You mean A Hard Days Night, right? The sus4 symbolizes the 4 Beatles suspended in an artificial world of fame, while the 7 represents the 7 deadly sins, manifested in the punishment of the hard work of the singer, Geonn Lennon.

I know, this is a musician's thread, I'm jealous.

And in theory, modulating: Amaj | Bbmaj7 | Bmin7 | E7 | F#min7 | B7 | Emaj || makes perfect sense...

NDRU said:

Really, oh. OK.
I've never heard of this, you serious?
: )

CaptainJack said:

It's plain as day!

You know who really has some messed up chords is Stevie Wonder. He's so musical, you'll never hear him play chords just straight, and his chords are all over the place. I think partially it's cause he's blind. He doesn't know what he's supposed to be playing, he just plays what he hears, and it's obviously incredible.