prince often plays guitar solos with only left hand withoit picking the striings.
he uses leggato tehnique more then most of guitar players .
do you think he mastered the legatto tehnique do you find him impressive.
personaly i do.
prince started using legato frequently during sign o the times tour and he uses it to this day.
his guitar solo on sign othe times from 2004 musicology in la dvd is almost all legatto.

He's great with it...

...But Jimi Hendrix was a lot more Artistic with it. Especially with his Whammy Bar.

P's legatto is strong and it probably comes from his years of playing keys.

But I will say I hate P's use of the whammy bar. He doesn't need it. I like his playing better on the Tele. I like that he's playing Strats but he should take those bars off.

no princes whammy bar use is very inventive and crazy,
it added totaly new dimension to his playing,
it also show us that prince isn't in the comffort zone,
he is still experimenting which is great.

You're entitled to feel that way and that's cool. Personally I think the bar has taken away from his playing. He's still one of my personal guitar heroes but I think he reaches for the bar when he draws a blank.

Some of the boots (I've seen and listened to) when he hits the bar and he's going up and down and back and forth, I'm like "OK man, enough!!..just play". But again, that's just how I feel. Not speaking for anyone else.

SPYZFAN1 said:

better watch it! I asked this question after the Musicology tour, where he kind of highlighted it for the first time in concert, and I had the same opinion tha you do...

Man, people lost dey minds!!! It ended up being a great thread though...you should check it out if you can find it.

princes whammy bar work is briliant,listen to bambi from celebration 2002 or villanova junction from 2007 last indigo aftershow.
c'mon tell me that version of shhh from kong would be that briliant if he didnt play all those things with whammy bar/

lol..it's cool BlackandRising. I just feel P doesn't need it. I've always dug his natural vibrato. Others may dig him using the Floyd Rose or whatever, not me.

SPYZFAN1 said:

I'm with you there man. I've made similar comments on other threads. As for the legato it's pretty standard fare and he seems to use it more for the flashy element when performing live. It doesn't strike me as being a highly developed thing with him. It's more visual than musical. It's just part of the "guitar hero" showmanship lexicon.

As someone who spent years really listening to Prince's playing I can say I always found his flatpicking very interesting. Just the way he tends to attacked the notes. My favorite example is the solo from "Get It Up". That's some wicked picking there.

AFAIK Allan Holdsworth is the dean of legato playing. There are a ton of players that have been influenced directly & indirectly by him. He's the guy that really bought forth that type of smooth horn-like phrasing.
[Edited 3/27/08 11:25am]

What's up kstrat??..Good to see you my man...I always stop by your My Space page.

I agree with you on P's flatpicking. He really digs in the guitar when he's using that technique. His solo on "Get It Up" is a perfect example. He also kills it on "Lady Cab Driver". His quick runs and vibrato on that is just wicked. I used to rewind that solo over and over. "Rock Hard In A Funky Place" also belongs in that category.

And yes Holdsworth is the man when it comes to legato..He almost makes it sound like a keyboard when he goes for it.

SPYZFAN1 said:

precisely. vibrato over the whammy. when it was discussed way back when, I found that there are apparently lots of guitar aficionados on the site, and there was great discussion about his various techniques.

But I really, really hate it when he uses the whammy. I saw him in San Fran a few years ago, when he was here over Valentine's Day weekend. He played the opening notes to "Joy In Repetition"...I was like, damn, this is gonna be tight!
But, before going into it, he switched to a symbol guitar with a whammy bar on it. I was hoping that it was going to be used vey little.

Alas, it was used a lot, and the guitar solo just wasn't what it should have been. I think some people see this as a minor inconvenience, but his finger vibrato is signature, at least IMO. Makes his playing sound like no one else. I think the whammy bar cheapens the experience.

prince uses whammy bar very good,in a short time he became a master

He overuses the whammy bar, he plays it like he thinks he's mastered it but it gets in the way, it's mostly unnecessary.

but he did master it

I love the way he uses the whammy. I think it's really added something new to his sound in recent years.

But back to the legato playing... Whenever I show people some Prince live videos (eg. "Fury" on SNL), they're are always like "look, he's miming! he's not playing the strings!". I must have got that reaction at least a dozen times over the years! Then I have to sit back and school them on how it works
[Edited 3/27/08 23:43pm]

I agree BlackandRising..his vibrato is signature. P, Angus Young and B.B. King have killer vibratos wheras Steve Vai and EVH have really taken the Floyd to a new dimension.

I will say the coolest whammy bar solo P has ever done was "Orgasm". Which is really the fade out solo from "Private Joy". Definetly has a "Jimi At Monterey" vibe to it.

SPYZFAN1 said:

What's up SPYZFAN1!

Thanks for taking the time to drop by my page! I notoriously slow to add anything as far as content but there is a little something on the way LOL!

A question for the thebanishedone. Can you point me towards any sort of clip that displays Prince's "mastery" of the vibrato-bar? I'm just curious as to what you've heard. It's not easy to come up with anything that's truly original and not derivative.

Here's my quick list of bar users who I think have been borrowed from a lot stylistically. It's a quick list so I'm sure I left A few other cats out.

1.Hank Marvin
2.Ike Turner
3.Jimi Hendrix
4.Allan Holdsworth
5.Jeff Beck
6.Eddie Van Halen
7.Brad Gillis
8.Steve Vai

Their approaches (and variations of)pretty much cover all the bar use and abuse I've heard LOL!

Legato you say? Joe Satriani. And my old guitar tutor.

Personally I can't sweep-pick so use legato for my three-note-per-string runs. I've yet to see a guitarist who doesn't use legato. Hell if they took hammer-ons and pull-offs away from us where the hell would we be?! They're so crucial to the flow of the instrument!

As for subtle whammy? Gilmour. He's God when it comes to this! Such masterful bends too! Man I wish I had the strength that he has

Prince and whammy? Hmm. He's getting better I suppose.

Anyone studied Vai's vibrato? Little circular motions. Really fine control but what do you expect from such a virtuoso.

And I'm off to see Satch and Gilbert in May! My poor wife is gonna have to sit with me and all the other anoraks! Ha

SPYZFAN1 said:

Very good point and I now risk being flamed to Hell and back but (takes breath) Prince plays with the whammy the way I used to when I first got one. I was fifteen. Now I like hardtailed guitars as my whammy ability is a bit naff. Greater sustain too.

love that song and that whole album

"i got to legatto"

lawd i wish i knew what the hell yall was talkin bout.

its twice as bad cuz i got a guitar....AND a bass

Domo ari legatto, Mr. Roboto.
Domo....

domo.

iloveannie said:

Can't wait to get "Silence Followed by a Deafening Roar" and the new Satch album!

SPYZFAN1 said:

I totally agree with u Spyz. P is cool with the whammy, especially for someone who doesn't specialize in it. BUT it's not his forte and I don't think it's style.. The best I've ever heard P throw down on a whammy was on 777-9311. He had that wild ass usage of the bar (another dead give away it wasn't Jesse for Jesse's was far more controlled) perfectly blended with his tight melodic runs.

When I first saw P in concert on the Controversy tour, he was shaking the shit out of his wrist back then so....

Whazzup Brutha B?..Hope you enjoyed your B-day!

I also think that P played the solo on "777"..Wouldn't be surprised if he used Dez's old sunburst Strat on that cut. The bends and frantic bar use leads me to believe it was P. Jesse's solo live on that cut was cool but different (less notes and more big bends).

iloveannie..I've always thought about it but YOU said it..(lol). Sometimes when P uses that bar it reminds me of the 16 year old guitar players I hear in Guitar Center on a Saturday afternoon. Just cranking feedback and letting the bar go up and down.

Like you, I'm more into the hardtail or Fender style bars. I have a few axes w/ Floyds but don't really play them a lot anymore.

And I agree Gilmour's bar use is sweet. It's almost orchestral. That Satch/Gilbert show sounds like it'll be fun. Paul's a nice and cool guy.

SPYZFAN1 said:

I hate to say anything non-positive but I agree. I think P's playing with the Tele and The Blue Angel are great without the whammy bar.

Oddly his whammy stuff sounded good with the wah-wah when he was trying to re-create Jesse's style on 777-9311.

I think its cool that he is using the whammy bar for a period of his life. I would like him to experiment more with guitar sounds. Now that his tone is truly great He can try to record with a heavier/edgier sound on the rock tracks. I mean, fury with louder guitars from SNL kills the album version.

As for his legatto, he is pretty good, as good as lots of famous guitar players from hard rock bands that uses this as the main tecnique.