I'm doing a little music theory project and was just wondering if any of the org musicians while in their listening to prince have noticed chord progressions that he uses frequently. For instance, Delirious, Kiss, and Peach would all be the basic I-IV-V blues progression. Feel free to post any examples you know of! Thanks!

In his ballads and overall anthem-like songs, he likes to use chords generating from the scale of the original harmony the song is written in. For instance, if the song is in C, he would use d, e, F, G, a, b. In the minor chords he likes to add a seventh (f.e. d7, e7) and in the major chords he like to play the third in the bass (f.e. C/E, F/A, G/B). To take away a bit from the schmalz and get that "build-up feeling", he'd pop in a dimished seventh from the original harmony from time to time (f.e. Bbsus2).

Perfect examples: One Kiss At A Time, Do Me Baby, Free, The Ladder, Purple Rain, Friend Loves Sister Mother/Wife, Future Soul Song, She Loves Me 4 Me, Call My Name, Love, I Love U But I Don't Trust U Anymore, The Most Beautiful Girl In The World and most songs on his first three albums.

"h" to "b" - edit; forgot this was a forum in English!

[Edited 10/11/10 11:54am]

Dave1992 said:

In his ballads and overall anthem-like songs, he likes to use chords generating from the scale of the original harmony the song is written in. For instance, if the song is in C, he would use d, e, F, G, a, b. In the minor chords he likes to add a seventh (f.e. d7, e7) and in the major chords he like to play the third in the bass (f.e. C/E, F/A, G/B). To take away a bit from the schmalz and get that "build-up feeling", he'd pop in a dimished seventh from the original harmony from time to time (f.e. Bbsus2).

Do you think he thinks of all of that technical theory when he composes? Honest question.

JesusFreak said:

Dave1992 said:

In his ballads and overall anthem-like songs, he likes to use chords generating from the scale of the original harmony the song is written in. For instance, if the song is in C, he would use d, e, F, G, a, b. In the minor chords he likes to add a seventh (f.e. d7, e7) and in the major chords he like to play the third in the bass (f.e. C/E, F/A, G/B). To take away a bit from the schmalz and get that "build-up feeling", he'd pop in a dimished seventh from the original harmony from time to time (f.e. Bbsus2).

Do you think he thinks of all of that technical theory when he composes? Honest question.

I really doubt it, I'm quite sure he doesn't, because what we are talking about is still easy stuff; something a musician would come up with when he is "ballad-jamming" - it's completely normal in pop music.

All in all, I don't think Prince ever thought about chord progressions much - he just gave things a try and stuck with what sounded best. At least that's what Wendy and Lisa told us about that wicked chord progression in Mountains. And, with experience, you can pull off things like those on TRC (and that middle section in Last December especially) without thinking about it much, but by simply "feeling" it.

.

[Edited 10/11/10 12:04pm]

JesusFreak said:

Dave1992 said:

In his ballads and overall anthem-like songs, he likes to use chords generating from the scale of the original harmony the song is written in. For instance, if the song is in C, he would use d, e, F, G, a, b. In the minor chords he likes to add a seventh (f.e. d7, e7) and in the major chords he like to play the third in the bass (f.e. C/E, F/A, G/B). To take away a bit from the schmalz and get that "build-up feeling", he'd pop in a dimished seventh from the original harmony from time to time (f.e. Bbsus2).

Do you think he thinks of all of that technical theory when he composes? Honest question.

I think he does. Dave is a better musician than me and he might be right, but I think Prince's grasp of music theory is very, very sophisticated and he's played too much music in his life not to understand the kinds of progressions he chooses.

He might not think about it a lot while he's doing it now, but I'm pretty sure he did in his earlier years. "ATWIAD" plays off the key of Db in almost every song, IIRC. I think he fell in love with that key at that time. There are other examples in other albums too, where Prince uses the same key or minor of that key several times.

RodeoSchro said:

JesusFreak said:

Do you think he thinks of all of that technical theory when he composes? Honest question.

I think he does. Dave is a better musician than me and he might be right, but I think Prince's grasp of music theory is very, very sophisticated and he's played too much music in his life not to understand the kinds of progressions he chooses.

He might not think about it a lot while he's doing it now, but I'm pretty sure he did in his earlier years. "ATWIAD" plays off the key of Db in almost every song, IIRC. I think he fell in love with that key at that time. There are other examples in other albums too, where Prince uses the same key or minor of that key several times.

I definitely think he knows more theory than a lot of people give him credit for. But like it's been said, he probably just goes with the flow when it comes to songcrafting. Although I'm willing to bet he knows what kind of chords/progressions create tension/resolution like the back of his hand.

Dave1992 said:

In his ballads and overall anthem-like songs, he likes to use chords generating from the scale of the original harmony the song is written in. For instance, if the song is in C, he would use d, e, F, G, a, b. In the minor chords he likes to add a seventh (f.e. d7, e7) and in the major chords he like to play the third in the bass (f.e. C/E, F/A, G/B). To take away a bit from the schmalz and get that "build-up feeling", he'd pop in a dimished seventh from the original harmony from time to time (f.e. Bbsus2).

Perfect examples: One Kiss At A Time, Do Me Baby, Free, The Ladder, Purple Rain, Friend Loves Sister Mother/Wife, Future Soul Song, She Loves Me 4 Me, Call My Name, Love, I Love U But I Don't Trust U Anymore, The Most Beautiful Girl In The World and most songs on his first three albums.

"h" to "b" - edit; forgot this was a forum in English!

[Edited 10/11/10 11:54am]

Good stuff, especially about the chord innversions. I've always wanted to sit down and examine his songs using the chord from the generated (major) scale (I ii iii IV V vi viio), but sadly I don't have the best ear in the world.

P.S. your song are pretty cool. really dig mosquito hunter and do not hesitate. for a second I thought "free" was going to be a cover of prince's cover of just my imagination

RodeoSchro said:

JesusFreak said:

Do you think he thinks of all of that technical theory when he composes? Honest question.

I think he does. Dave is a better musician than me and he might be right, but I think Prince's grasp of music theory is very, very sophisticated and he's played too much music in his life not to understand the kinds of progressions he chooses.

He might not think about it a lot while he's doing it now, but I'm pretty sure he did in his earlier years. "ATWIAD" plays off the key of Db in almost every song, IIRC. I think he fell in love with that key at that time. There are other examples in other albums too, where Prince uses the same key or minor of that key several times.

I didn't want to imply that he doesn't "understand" the progressions he uses and that he doesn't know what kind of atmosphere and feelings certain harmonies (and sounds, for that matter) create - like you said, he has had plenty of time to study and he always showed interest in what music can do to the body and mind.

I was rather addressing the mathematical side of it all. I think Prince usually goes with what feels and sounds best and then analyses and understands, rather than analysing and understanding while writing it down and then playing it.

When it comes to Prince, you're better off listening to the whole piece of music and letting it all get to you and judge it by the impact it has on your emotions and thoughs than trying to find little musical gimmicks that only real musicians might find interesting and brilliant.

MajesticOne89 said:

Dave1992 said:

In his ballads and overall anthem-like songs, he likes to use chords generating from the scale of the original harmony the song is written in. For instance, if the song is in C, he would use d, e, F, G, a, b. In the minor chords he likes to add a seventh (f.e. d7, e7) and in the major chords he like to play the third in the bass (f.e. C/E, F/A, G/B). To take away a bit from the schmalz and get that "build-up feeling", he'd pop in a dimished seventh from the original harmony from time to time (f.e. Bbsus2).

Perfect examples: One Kiss At A Time, Do Me Baby, Free, The Ladder, Purple Rain, Friend Loves Sister Mother/Wife, Future Soul Song, She Loves Me 4 Me, Call My Name, Love, I Love U But I Don't Trust U Anymore, The Most Beautiful Girl In The World and most songs on his first three albums.

"h" to "b" - edit; forgot this was a forum in English!

[Edited 10/11/10 11:54am]

Good stuff, especially about the chord innversions. I've always wanted to sit down and examine his songs using the chord from the generated (major) scale (I ii iii IV V vi viio), but sadly I don't have the best ear in the world.

P.S. your song are pretty cool. really dig mosquito hunter and do not hesitate. for a second I thought "free" was going to be a cover of prince's cover of just my imagination

I simply love threads like this. I've said it time after time, this is what I came here for and there aren't enough discussions and harmony and colour in Prince' music, because there is so much to discover there! I'm always happy to discuss topics like these with people who know what they are talking about, but who do it for the joy of music and not for showing off (because you do find some like that on here too, unfortunately...).

Thank you very much, although those recording are quite old and very sloppy - nothing to be taken seriously