I've heard from numerous sources that Prince had MASTERED 24 instruments by the age of 14 and that he played 29 on his debut album. If this is true, what instruments are they? I can hardly think of 10 he might play:

1. Guitar
2. Bass
3. Drums
4. Piano
5. Organ
6. Saxaphone
7. Keyboards
8. Stewardess???

Any other ideas, or was this some bullshit propaganda piece?

Harp
Tambourine
Triangle
Woodblocks
Drum Machine
Those shaky thangs!!!


But I guess the two dozen instruments would include derivatives of the main ones you have mentioned.

prince doesn't play any strings or blow instruments

candy dulfer said he's not good in saxo

im also curious about dat 32 or so thang instruments he's supposed to play

shockadelica said:

shockadelica said:

I'm afraid he played a lot of instruments, not necessarily melodious ones ...

A sax was one of the first instruments he played.

I do think that the "24 Instruments" legend has gotten entirely out of hand. Plus, it's a different number EVERY time!

From what I can figure, Prince plays guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, and drums. If you're counting every variation of these 4 instruments, then that's how the legend started.

Let's put this in perspective.

The early promotion of Prince sought to make clear that Prince was a multi-instrumentalist. Early interviews and reviews stated that he played many instruments, but no-one ever listed them. I'm sure this was at least partly based on exaggeration, and encouraged by Prince himself.

It would no doubt be easy to argue that Prince can 'only' play, say, 5 instruments proficiently e.g. drums, bass, guitar, keyboards, percussion. But keyboards to one person is a piano, synthesiser or organ to another.

So, equally, it is quite possible for Prince to suggest that he can play 27 or whatever instruments: just start by listing those, for example, he is credited with playing on his first album (the liner notes were a clue!):

Acoustic guitar, electric guitar, ARP, Orr bass, Ms Poly Moog, syndrums, synthesiser bass, singing bass, drums, clavinet, Oberhein 4-voice, slapsticks, Finga cymbals, wind chimes, congas, water drums, bongos, Fender Rhodes piano, clavinet, Mini-moog, acoustic piano, woodblocks, brush trap, tree bell.

Maybe he counts his voice as an instrument, maybe he counts his falsetto as one and his tenor as another. Frankly, it doesn't really matter. It's partly early promotional hype/spin and partly a way of looking at things. What matters is the outcome, whether it be on one instrument, 5 distinctively different instruments that require different skills to be played proficiently, or 50 variations of the same instrument.

Kodjo said:

That's not exactly right. She said that if he picked it up seriously he would be good at it in no time.

chibi said:

Harp??? Since when has Prince played the harp?

langebleu said:

I think he played some in U make my sunshine.

Prince dont play Harp... For SOLO he got Harp player in and also composing for HARP is a specialist thing... Hence the guy co wrote it with Prince.

Se7en said:

Precisely.

How many instruments does he play?

Enough to make the greatest music being played in the planet today. Thats how many!

Supernova said:

In which case, :I: could probably play more than Prince myself including at least another 512 sounds from my Synthesizer (and myself)!!!

Don't believe the Hype - But Acknowledge the legend.

'dre
[This message was edited Sun Nov 10 22:15:42 PST 2002 by DreZone]

im just crackin up at "Blow instruments" lol...i believe its considered a "Woodwind" instrument.. anything using a reed is a woodwind instrument

I have an idea how this rumour started. In the CD sleeve for Prince (the album) it says the following:

"... Prince was an accomplished guitar player at 13. By 14 he had mastered drums. He learned to play 26 instruments while in his teens ..."

Now, I realise that he didn't write this himself, but it is written in the album sleeve so surely he must have authorised it ??

I agree with what's been said in the thread before though - if you count every variation of every instrument, most musicians can play many instruments. For example, I play piano, keyboards, organ, synth, accordian ...

L

Didn't he also address this topic during the infamous interview with Dick Clark on American Bandstand? I seem to remember Dick asking him how many instruments he played and he said, "Thousands."

I miss the ol' Rude Boy!

I bet I know which of his instruments he plays with most, the dirty little bastard.

IT CRACKS ME UP HOW PEOPLE ARE IN HERE COMPLAINING ABOUT HOW MANY INSTRUMENTS PRINCE CAN "PLAY". I GIVE HIM ALL THE PROPS IN THE WORLD CUZ THE MAN IS TALANTED AND CAN PLAY MORE INSTRUMENTS THAN ME. I THINK MOST OF US CAN AGREE WITH THAT! :TWOCENTS:
[This message was edited Mon Nov 11 11:10:30 PST 2002 by LOVESEXY26]

After alot of research and alot of digging I found out 7 more instuments that Prince plays:

1. skin flute
2. Mayte
3. Carmen
4. Jill Jones
5. Vanity
6. Susanna
7. Diamond
8. Pearl
9. Jerome

MJ

'nuff said.

One needs to make a distinction between blowing, banging or strumming a particular instrument for a few bars and really establishing a familiarity beyond instructional proficiency. I haven't seen much beyound guitar, bass and keys. He's ok as a drummer, but other cats are much better than him.

Isn't all the instruments he playes on "for you" listed on the album? I think they are on my cd version anyway.

Didn't an electronic keyboard play 2 dozen instruments back in the seventies?

I bet I know which of his instruments he plays with most, the dirty little purple bastard.

HalluRain said:

me 2..."umm...a lot!"

LaVisHh said:

EMULATE. They key word here is "EMULATE" not "PLAY".

PFunkjazz said:

Thanks for the correction, although I used the word "play" in an attempt to be funny...since the topic

poster said:

LaVisHh said:

OK

Emulators and sequencers made it a really difficult to distinguish when one heard an actual instrument and not just a sound wave. All at yur hands in a keyboard for less than $500!

chookalana said:

Jerome??? no wonder morris and prince got a fight during filming purple rain (the password is 'what')