Prince is a liar.

pennylover said:

thank you..yes..i am pretty knowledgeable

RealMusician said:

George Benson.....one of the masters at doing this!

RealMusician said:

You know, I've always thought that, despite the fact that he is known for his guitar playing, Prince is much more harmonically adventurous when playing keys than when he is on guitar, as evident from his voice and piano encores (Lovesexy tour, ONA Live!). However, he is a much more effective soloist on guitar by a wide margin. So I can definitely understand what you mean here, with regard to him finding the notes on guitar more readily.

It really does seem that Prince just knows how to "sing" with the guitar more. I've often thought that he can be somewhat of a "noisy" guitar player, because a lot of what he plays is not simply notes, but a combination of effects (wah, flanger, glisses, etc.) that add to his sound in a non-technical but nonetheless aesthetic manner. In this regard, Prince really is the heir apparent to Jimi, equally known for his "noisy" guitar playing.

A performance like the one Prince gave at the RRHOF 2004 Induction Ceremony is, from the initial reverse bends to the flanger at the end, perhaps equal parts actual intended notes and sounds other than notes per se, and yet people (including myself) were left with their jaws on the floor, then and to this day. He is, in every sense of the word, a raw guitarist, and since the piano lacks this same degree of "noise factor," or whatever you wish to call it, this may be why his keyboard soloing sounds pale in comparison to his guitar soloing; though, if you listen enough, you can hear plenty of glissandi, sustain-pedal stomping and other noisy effects in addition to the notes.

I think this is just further evidence that, to Prince, a musical instrument is just an extension of his body, and just like we can feel free to sing, clap our hands, stomp our feet, snap our fingers, beat our chests, etc., he too elicits a variety of sounds that differ from those produced in the intended manner.

prince's keyboard soloing sounding pale?
hmm are you sure?
on rave 2000 dvd prince's keyboard solo sounded 10 times better then any of his guitar solos that night.
was it because prince is better keyboard player
or because prince was in his worst form guitar wise in that time period/

thebanishedone said:

Well, if you're talking about the display of pure instrumental skills (whether you actually like the music or not), I personally must say that Prince has always been more proficient on guitar than on keyboards - including that performance.

Of course, you might still prefer his keyboard playing - but that's just a matter of taste, really.

This thread is refreshing on the one hand, on the other hand it's amazing how some (especially one) are completely missing the point.

I personally am classically trained on the piano and the violin as well as in music theory. I've been taught music theory by a former student of a famous composer and was schooled on harmonic analyses (Bach chorals, for instance), counterpoint and fugue composition. On the piano, I've made my way through to the (pretty tricky) Variations in c minor by Beethoven.

Could I play a Bach fugue on the piano, using a score, better than Prince? Probably yes. Could I play a 15 minute medley of self-composed songs on the piano and sing to it on a level Prince has done it in the O2 concert I've been attending? Hell fucking no!

And that is the point. Prince is brilliant at what he is doing. It is irrelevant to the quality of his music if he has been trained on counterpoint, because the rules of counterpoint are rarely used in popular music. That's like saying Alfred Brendel was a bad piano player because he can't lay down Jazz solos. We're talking about different disciplines of music here, simple as that.

Btw, anyone who can play a piano solo like the one on "The Dance" in a key like e flat minor can't be that bad. Sure, what you can hear for Prince's piano playing (I won't comment on the guitar because I can't play guitar) is that his technique is not fully developed (especially during fast runs). Now what would we want him to do? Of course, he could sit down and practise piano 8 hours a day until he sounds like Lang Lang, but what is our benefit of it? The guy is a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, not a specialist on a specific instrument.

of course prince is a songwriter and multi instrumentalist but he is also one thing -a ferocius jammer.
he likes to jam,long solos on instruments during extended parts of the song are big part of what prince is.

all you musicians who claim you know so much (you know who you are) why don't you post some of your stuff so we can see just how much you know.

EmancipationLover said:

Don't get me wrong: Prince is no slouch on keyboards. I relish the opportunity to hear him just sit at the keys and jam away, because, as you said, he does it like no one else.

RealMusician stated earlier that, in his opinion, Prince was "less familiar" with the piano and was much more at home on the guitar. To me, he is equally at home on both instruments, it's just that, due to the visceral quality of his soloing, his ideas are manifested much more effectively on guitar than on keys.

Oh, and please, please, Prince don't turn into Lang Lang. Histrionics for histrionics sake is never what music is about.

mozfonky said:

I can only speak for myself. I'm just a hobby musician, and I've already said that I could never in the world do what Prince can do.

However, as much as I appreciate your effort to support Prince in this, I also have to say that someone must not necessarily be practically good in doing something to criticise someone else's ability in doing it. All you need is a good theoretical background. If I say "this drive by Tiger Woods was crap", I still acknowledge that Tiger, even on his worst day, is a 1,000,000 times better golf player than me. But maybe my knowledge about the game and the golf swing is sufficient to analyse that he hasn't done well in this situation (by his standards).

Ice9sFine said:

I hear ya. Though I like him on both instruments, if I had to choose, I'd probably prefer him on guitar.

EmancipationLover said:

Interestingly enough, I enjoy him on keys just a tad more than when he is on guitar.

Ice9sFine said:

Ha. The time I really sat back and was amazed at Prince's musicianship, rather than just loving him as a performer...

...was when he sat down in front of the piano in Purple Rain and just played the opening chords to the title tune.

There was just something to that image.

Over the years, I've learned more and more about music and how talented Prince truly is. As much as I love guitar, there are things you can do on a piano that just SCREAMS "music" to me.

Ha, a real musician can probably make a coke bottle sound good, but whenever I see someone sit at the piano and play it well...

Alasseon said:

The thing is, few people outside of his fanbase, and even fewer around my age (early 20s, born in the height of Prince's "classic period") realize that Prince even plays piano! Perhaps that is why, once they see him play, he appears to them in a different light as not only an electric performer but an accomplished musician as well.

Ice9sFine said:

The most obvious examples to me, is when you hear his acoustic sets on guitar (or "The Truth" album, for that matter). That's when you hear that he's actually a genuine, no-BS guitar player. This is beside all the flashy solos and effects, we're basically talking just plain, accurate rhythm playing.

Now, if he were to do the equivalent on piano, I'm quite certain he wouldn't be able to. He would probably come up with something unique, personal, and artisticly satisfying, but he wouldn't be able to play "conventionally" if he had to.

That, to me, would be the difference.

Alasseon said:

Hey, I thought I was the only person to consciously notice the imagery cast by a piano player. I am a piano player and watch many others, it is very different from other instruments because it is more internally oriented, meaning, when a man or woman plays, they generally face the keys or the sheet music and it immediately puts a distance between player and audience. There is something so cool about that. It's more private and intimate, yet, it exposes a person more because of the very same thing.