I think it would be a great idea if Prince put out a book on how to write songs to show upcoming artists how it's done. I always like how prince was inspired by religion and put his own twist on songs. I'm sure this thread was done before but i was just wondering what would you like to learn from Prince?
[Edited 5/29/10 21:32pm]

Nice idea

It would suck royally.


He's RARELY spoke candidly about his songwriting technique (I remember a few words in guitar magazine, and one about his Emancipation record where he almost gave an informative interview), and often just attributes his process to God. It becomes a sermon rather than an education in music.

TheVoid said:

Dan..... the thread is a "wish" read the thread title again

luv4u said:

But I wish it too! I love a good horror novel!

TheVoid said:

Exactly.

Even if he wanted to, I doubt he would have the ability to verbally explain his methods in a pedagogical way.

What would be interesting, however, is a book with detailed technical analysis of Prince's music - preferably written by someone who's worked with him (musician, engineer etc), and/or someone with access to his master tapes.

But we know that's not going to happen, for two reasons:
-There are probably very few, if any, people who possess that information who are willing/allowed to talk about it.
-The market for books on detailed musical analysis is much too small for most publishers to even bother. People would much rather read biographies about girlfriends, tour anecdotes, and drug abuse.

Prince is too cryptic to teach like that.

I remember Bass player magazine did an interview with him... the interviewer tried to get something out of him regarding bass techniques,methods etc... but Prince just kept talking about god.

RealMusician said:

Something like 'The Vault'.....only, updated.
Or do you mean something about the actual music?
[Edited 5/30/10 2:32am]

MikeyB71 said:

RealMusician said:

TheVoid said:

It would suck royally. He's RARELY spoke candidly about his songwriting technique (I remember a few words in guitar magazine, and one about his Emancipation record where he almost gave an informative interview), and often just attributes his process to God. It becomes a sermon rather than an education in music.

Exactly. Even if he wanted to, I doubt he would have the ability to verbally explain his methods in a pedagogical way. What would be interesting, however, is a book with detailed technical analysis of Prince's music - preferably written by someone who's worked with him (musician, engineer etc), and/or someone with access to his master tapes. But we know that's not going to happen, for two reasons: -There are probably very few, if any, people who possess that information who are willing/allowed to talk about it. -The market for books on detailed musical analysis is much too small for most publishers to even bother. People would much rather read biographies about girlfriends, tour anecdotes, and drug abuse.

Something like 'The Vault'.......................only, updated. Or do you mean something about the actual music? [Edited 5/30/10 2:32am]

Yeah, I was thinking more technical than that. Something that would cover as much as possible of the whole songwriting/recording process, and that discusses all the different artistic choices and decisions. Questions like how does he come up with keys and chord progessions, how does he build his arrangements, how does he determine the form of a song, how are the vocal harmonies constructed, etc.

But again - that's never going to happen...

RealMusician said:

MikeyB71 said:

RealMusician said:

TheVoid said:

It would suck royally. He's RARELY spoke candidly about his songwriting technique (I remember a few words in guitar magazine, and one about his Emancipation record where he almost gave an informative interview), and often just attributes his process to God. It becomes a sermon rather than an education in music.

Exactly. Even if he wanted to, I doubt he would have the ability to verbally explain his methods in a pedagogical way. What would be interesting, however, is a book with detailed technical analysis of Prince's music - preferably written by someone who's worked with him (musician, engineer etc), and/or someone with access to his master tapes. But we know that's not going to happen, for two reasons: -There are probably very few, if any, people who possess that information who are willing/allowed to talk about it. -The market for books on detailed musical analysis is much too small for most publishers to even bother. People would much rather read biographies about girlfriends, tour anecdotes, and drug abuse.

Something like 'The Vault'.......................only, updated. Or do you mean something about the actual music? [Edited 5/30/10 2:32am]

Yeah, I was thinking more technical than that. Something that would cover as much as possible of the whole songwriting/recording process, and that discusses all the different artistic choices and decisions. Questions like how does he come up with keys and chord progessions, how does he build his arrangements, how does he determine the form of a song, how are the vocal harmonies constructed, etc.

But again - that's never going to happen...

Probably not...........sadly.