BlaqueKnight said:

No, BK. You're wrong! Prince is just "holding back" to spare the Stanley Jordans and Tuck Andresses of the world embarrassment. He lets them cling to their thoughts of mastery and achievement out of a sense of largesse and charity.

Prince is the greatest!

ThreadBare said:

I really don't see what it matters and the lines so blured anyway.Its like a known fact Vai,Malmsteen,Petrucci,Gilbert,Eric Johnson,Satch etc are virtuosos but thats because they live for guitar and play very difficult things,Prince dosent,but thats not to say he isnt very good and would hold his own with the other guys in his own way of playing.Slash isnt a guitar virtuoso,Jimmy Page isnt,nor Clapton not by the criteria that most hold of a virtuoso , so I'm sure Prince isnt bothtered,being virtuoso dosent mean the guitarist plays anything that great just that its difficult to play.

What I will say is IMO he is definatly more technically able than Jack White,not that I dislike Jack White but he is more about tone and attitude,I wouldn't really say there would be much Slash could play that Prince couldn't I'd put them on reasonably equal terms.

check out some funky guitar playing by prince....

there is a video posted at this link, scroll down.

http://www.gothamist.com/

the direct link:

[Prince YouTube links not allowed on this site snip - luv4u]

LOL. Stanley Jordan??? BS. They aren't in the same league. Stanley Jordan is the guitarist equivilant of that guy who plays the clarinet (WTF is his name again?). No soul.


BTW, he should play the guitar like a man and make something that doesn't sound like its stuck in an elevator.

PRINCE you rock. Don't listen to this shit hehe.

ufoclub said:[quote]check out some funky guitar playing by prince....

there is a video posted at this link, scroll down.

http://www.gothamist.com/

the direct link:

[Prince YouTube links not allowed on this site snip - luv4u]
That's the shit!

Rockability said:

That's ... wow... that's hmm.

What's truly AMAZING to me is that this is even a question on this board. I mean, this topic will come up about every 6 weeks. Like clockwork. I don't understand why it's such a wondermint to folks. How can any person who is hipped to P on any level not realize that P can straight burn on his axe? He's been doing it since the get go. It seems like the folks who ask this question are themselves, doubting P's skills as a guitarist. Cuz dig, if u truly believe something, you're not going to wonder what other's think and u definately won't give a fuck what they think either way. U don't have people asking all the damn time some shit like "Hey u guys, was Hendrix a really great guitarist?" You'll never hear that and u know why? Cuz everybody knows that he was. It goes without saying. And that's how it should be for P and because it isn't on this board, baffles the hell out of me.

blackguitaristz said:

Word.


To answer why it comes up. Prince really is known for his singing and dancing 1st. Hendrix didn't do that shit. If Prince straight up played guitar like when he does when he is tearing up the axe, then people would indentify with him in the respect. However, its cool that Prince is multidimensional as an artist. People ask if he can dance and people ask if he can sing too. People wonder how one guy can do all that.
[Edited 6/16/06 11:39am]

Rockability said:

Dance and sing? No way, can he walk and chew bubblegum at the same time?!

I don't think Prince is known for his dancing at all. Primarily he's known for his songwriting, with being a multi-instrumentalist close behind, and a great live performer after that. That if you take out 'being a wierd dude'. An awesome guitar player should be up there, but it isn't as blackguitaristz said.
[Edited 6/16/06 12:33pm]

BlaqueKnight said:

ufoclub said:

Thats one of my favorite pieces of Prince guitar playing...thats the kind of stuff the little guy does best.

Rockability said:[quote]

SDNafka said:

I think he accidentally sounds an open string in there too...but lets not get bogged down in detail. No, i won't post a clip of me playing that run on youtube....obviously and logically that conclusively proves, without question, that I can't play it...I mean its not like there could be any other reason for not posting it...like not being bothered or having something better to do...no I'm just a liar...can't play a note on guitar and you found me out...damn your truth-seeking ways!

Honestly, I dig your enthusiasm for Prince's guitar playing....he's great...I just recommend you listen to George Benson ( and others) again....it'll be worth it.

[b]I Prince plays what is needed to make his music work. Whether it's a blazing solo. like the one at the end of "Morning Papers" or his cool, mellow acoustic guitar on "Pink Cashmere" Or his bluesy style on "In The Dark" This vituoso talk can be debated all day. But Prince knows how to play any style of music that's out there. That's what makes him unique.

"I don't think Prince is known for his dancing at all. Primarily he's known for his songwriting, with being a multi-instrumentalist close behind, and a great live performer after that. That if you take out 'being a wierd dude'. An awesome guitar player should be up there, but it isn't as blackguitaristz said." -quote


You gotta be kidding me? I'm not asking for the critiques opinions, I'm saying that the average Joe knows Prince for his dancing and singing. At least if they know Prince from his dancing days. Man, you stated that like Prince hasn't influenced dance as an art? Michael Jackson did the moonwalk and people went nuts. Prince did the splits 20 times a song. Which is harder?

Then there is the moves Prince personally made. Some people think it is some of the most embarrasing shit he has done, but man his dancing is great. Its like watching the funkiest ever white guy dancing.
[Edited 6/16/06 16:50pm]

prince cant be compered to benson.benson is extraordinery virtuoso,prince is virtuoso

blackguitaristz said:

You can thank thebanishedone for these threads. He does the same s**t over at Housequake, which is even worse in the "Prince is greater than -" threads. Instead of wondering whether P is greater than George Benson/Slash/EVH/Hendrix/the teen wunderkind at Guitar Center, he should work on his spelling...

I always find these threads interesting. Most of the cats up here who actually play instruments reasonably well and have experience making music for a living are the most realistic, even-minded posters. All of this, "Prince uses exotic bends, jazzy runs, blah-blah-blah", gets redundant after awhile. Let's just say that P is a great funk-rock guitarist and leave it at that. All of those guitar players are great in their own ways.

JesseDezz has spoken


I know that another thread like this will pop up in a few days...

Rockability said:

I'm not sure I agree, even though I rate Prince as perhaps the best 20th century pop guitarist of all time.

I say this because Prince doesn't read music.

Playing his own music certainly comes easily to him and there aren't any limits to what he can do in that respect, but put a baroque concerto in front of him and I know he'd stumble, even if he learnt it by ear.

So, I respectfully disagree with the term virtuoso as used by Mr Bland and a lot of modern cats and critics... a real virtuoso can play ANYTHING and I really don't think Prince is capable of some of the more difficult "classical" pieces.

jessedez whatthe fuck are you talking about???
i never visit housequake,im not even a member,i never ever posted a topic on housequake,you need to apologise for acussations.

second)i have my own opinion on prince's guitar playing and my opinion will never change whatever you ppl say.
i just like tehnical aspect of guitar playing,i like to know what people think.

i dont know why are you complaing about this subject,maybe you find threads like"prince is bald? prince needs a producer,prince needs to dance more" more amusing.

p.s. jessedez i rember that you were discussion on all my threads regarding guitar.all and i had maybe 10,15 in the last 2 years.

jessedez you are righ that i should work on my speling,
but please rember that english is my second language,and i bet i speak better english then you serbian.

whats wrong with discussing is p virtuoso or not?
i think he can play everything he wants to play.i was just looking for other people opinion.

one more thing jessedez i play guitar for over 12 years.im 24 years old now.
so i know what im talking about.

so what if prince dont read music,he can read tabs.
eddie van halen,jimi hendrix,richie kotzen and many others dont read music.

thebanishedone said:

exactly, sure they can read tabs, but tabs ain't shit.

i'm talking about playing double sharps in the key of Eb ... 20th century classical... baroque music... i highly doubt most of the players mentioned on here could play it fluently... however, with some time i imagine it may be possible... but in that respect the true definition of virtuosity is not applicable to prince or indeed most rock musicians.

none of this funk/rock shit is difficult at all, compared to the stuff college students are playing to get their music degrees. i know because i'm one of those students and it's kicking my arse!!

.
[Edited 6/17/06 19:53pm]

JPW said:

Steve Vai, mentioned in an earlier thread, definitely can! Eddie Van Halen learned to sight read on the piano...he had a strict Russian teacher who hovered over him with a stick and smacked the shit out of his hands every time he made a mistake. Once he moved to guitar, though, I'm pretty sure he avoided that kind of training....although on the track called "Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)" from the 1982 release "Diver Down" Eddie recorded the acoustic guitar track from sight reading along with his father on clarinet.

.....

gcu1 said:

awesome... i really need to get into some EVH

thanks for the heads up

personally, i'd love to hear Prince tackle something really difficult, many people are impressed with his playing (as I was early on) because of the way he makes relatively simple things sound difficult and off-the-cuff...but seriously, Prince is always playing a combination of semi-difficult things... not that difficulty itself makes a great player... but I really think, especially these days, Prince kinda goes through the motions and hardly ever plays anything he hasn't played in different variations before.

thebanishedone said:

All your threads seem to be some kind of justification for Prince's greatness as a guitar player. Guitar talk is always interesting, but can't you find something else to say besides "Prince wasn't practicing then" and the usual stuff you post. Or maybe you just can't spell anything else...

I could care the f**k less how old you are or how long you've been playing guitar. Don't care if you're from Serbia or Mars. Don't care if English is your second language - you could speak Wookie for all I care. I come to this board to read/enjoy posts. And your posts stink. And if that's not you posting the same crap over at Housequake, you must have an annoying twin...

JesseDezz said:

yikes, what's YOUR problem?

banishedone never struck me as all that

he doesn't always seem to know his shit (sorry), but so what?

jessedez dont funk with me ,if i told you it wasn't me on housequake then it wasnt me.
there are various threads on org,i like to talk about a lot of stuff,but this is my favourite subject.
like it or not on every thread i had created there was many intersting things writen by intersting people.