Spinlight said:

Prince absolutely does not know how to play a saxophone. There's a story attached to Prince's experiences with saxophone playing as a child.

I've brought this up before, but Prince really can't play any woodwind instruments.

Yep, that's what I've heard too...

Does anyone know if there's a song where Prince officially played sax or any other woodwind instrument? thanks

JoeTyler said:

Spinlight said:

Prince absolutely does not know how to play a saxophone. There's a story attached to Prince's experiences with saxophone playing as a child.

I've brought this up before, but Prince really can't play any woodwind instruments.

Yep, that's what I've heard too...

Does anyone know if there's a song where Prince officially played sax or any other woodwind instrument? thanks

No, as my previous post states, there isn't a song where Prince is officially credited.

There is a statement by Prince in 1998, where he says that he sometimes contributed sax on songs (unspecified).

There is a statement from Eric saying he doesn't think Prince can play saxophone.

And there is reportedly a statement from Candy Dulfer saying Prince played her a tape which included a recording of what Prince suggested was him playing saxophone.

Spinlight is quite categoric about Prince not knowing how to play the saxophone, so it would be helpful to know what the evidence is that supports his assertion too.

Hey Jason, a friendly word of advice:

You don't have to type your thread titles in all caps. Trust me, your threads will not get ignored if you title them in sentence case, like everyone else does.

Now, as to what Prince plays. He plays anything he wants to play.

A friend of mine ran into Prince at an afterparty back in the 80's. He asked Prince if he could play any horns. Prince said something like, "You've heard horns on some of my songs, haven't you?"

But I think the general consensus is that he can't play horn instruments all that good.

Prince is a pop star who can kick it on drums guitar and piano. Everything else written about him is gross exaggeration.

Chiquetet said:

I imagine Prince could play almost any instrument you put in front of him, and if he wasn't familiar with it, give him a day or two and he'd know that one too (I seem to recall him saying as much in an interview in Australia a few years ago when Rove was quizzing him on obscure Aussie instruments).

But of course, there's playing an instrument and really playing an instrument.

I read somewhere that technically he knows how to play saxophone, but you'd be hard pressed to find much evidence of it because it's not at the level he'd want it to be for it to be seen publicly (note that could mean anything, given that he's quite the perfectionist).

He's played guitar, bass, drums, keys, etc... for years and years so has no problem switching between them. When it comes to instruments he rarely (if ever) picks up, it would not be so much a case of whether or not he'd know what to do with it, but rather, would his playing be up to scratch (ie. up to his own standards as band leader).

Also, when he has the likes of Maceo Parker in his network of players, why not just leave it to him?

Lol! I live in Australia & nearly peed myself laughing when Rove produced a "wobble board" & a broomstick with bottle tops nailed on2 it and asked Prince if he thought he could incorporate these instruments in2 one of his songs! U should have seen Prince he was absolutely DUMBFOUNDED!

The look on Prince's face was like WTF are those & what do u do with them! The laughter that followed was Priceless as Rove showed Prince how they worked! Just 2 funny!

But I do recall reading an article in which Prince admitted that he couldn't play the wind instruments. It was many years ago & i can't remember where i read it but he said that he just couldn't get them right so he admires anybody that can play them!

Spinlight said:

Prince absolutely does not know how to play a saxophone. There's a story attached to Prince's experiences with saxophone playing as a child.

I've brought this up before, but Prince really can't play any woodwind instruments.

Quite true. Eric Leeds confirmed this once. Maybe in the interview he did at the NPGMC.

We broke it down by actual named instruments at the Club one time, too. It's pretty easy to give Prince credit for playing like, 25 or 30 instruments when you list everything. I mean, Finger Cymbals ARE an instrument and he does play them.

The claim that he has "mastered" over 20 instruments in his bio is obviously an exageration. His first album lists several instruments that he plays but what is missed here is that moog, moog bass and rhodes are examples of the instruments that he plays. Basically he takes credit for alll the different types of keyboards that used to be considered different instruments before synths became standard soon after in the 80's.

There is no way he would have the time to master any brass or woodwind instruments at such an early age.

He was asked by the ignorant women of "the View" in 2000 about this and he was very uncomfortable talking about it and quickly changed the subject.

Funklov said:

The claim that he has "mastered" over 20 instruments in his bio is obviously an exageration. His first album lists several instruments that he plays but what is missed here is that moog, moog bass and rhodes are examples of the instruments that he plays. Basically he takes credit for alll the different types of keyboards that used to be considered different instruments before synths became standard soon after in the 80's.

There is no way he would have the time to master any brass or woodwind instruments at such an early age.

He was asked by the ignorant women of "the View" in 2000 about this and he was very uncomfortable talking about it and quickly changed the subject.

Funklov, I agree with you. I saw that interview in 2000 and he did change the topic quick. He told the Asian co-host that he liked her hairstyle. She and Star started giggling and then the subject was changed.

[img:$uid]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v149/akeeno/Capture-5.jpg[/img:$uid]

andykeen said:

[img:$uid]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v149/akeeno/Capture-5.jpg[/img:$uid]

O.K where was this shot taken from? I give you credit, you searched all over the net for this one. To think of it, P said the internet is dead, here on the Org, we might be the only ones resuscitating his legend as an all around instrumentalist with photographic proof. Is this a sax that he is (improvising) playing?What song is and era is this from? Is this from an unreleased video? More info is needed.

[Edited 11/30/10 1:40am]

Has anyone seen any photos of P playing the violin? It has been said that the violin is one of the most complicated instruments to master. It would be great to know if our dimunitive musical giant has ever been able to reach this height. Thanks everyone for your contributions to this thread. I hope that all of you can see the significance of what I'm trying to establish here. In the past, there were many threads that dealt with this issue, but there never seemed to be any closure to the topic with real evidence backed up by photos or video links, etc.

jason7sh said:

andykeen said:

[img:$uid]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v149/akeeno/Capture-5.jpg[/img:$uid]

O.K where was this shot taken from? I give you credit, you searched all over the net for this one. To think of it, P said the internet is dead, here on the Org, we might be the only ones resuscitating his legend as an all around instrumentalist with photographic proof. Is this a sax that he is (improvising) playing?What song is and era is this from? Is this from an unreleased video? More info is needed.

[Edited 11/30/10 1:40am]

That is from the Face Down video. He is miming. It's not really him playing a horn.

jason7sh said:

andykeen said:

[img:$uid]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v149/akeeno/Capture-5.jpg[/img:$uid]

O.K where was this shot taken from? I give you credit, you searched all over the net for this one. To think of it, P said the internet is dead, here on the Org, we might be the only ones resuscitating his legend as an all around instrumentalist with photographic proof. Is this a sax that he is (improvising) playing?What song is and era is this from? Is this from an unreleased video? More info is needed.

[Edited 11/30/10 1:40am]

Dude, you're a utter dick!

Just to let you in on something, you don't have to search 'All over the internet' for a picture...If you have a collection of music videos. Its from Facedown 1996.

However, I would like to point out I never said 'he played the instrument', if you have seen that Video, it's easy to see that P is miming the sax as well as the violin...it's a joke!

Now, I think langebleu has answered the question here, just let it rest...

jason7sh said:

Has anyone seen any photos of P playing the violin? It has been said that the violin is one of the most complicated instruments to master. It would be great to know if our dimunitive musical giant has ever been able to reach this height. Thanks everyone for your contributions to this thread. I hope that all of you can see the significance of what I'm trying to establish here. In the past, there were many threads that dealt with this issue, but there never seemed to be any closure to the topic with real evidence backed up by photos or video links, etc.

[img:$uid]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v149/akeeno/Capture-6.jpg[/img:$uid]

andykeen said:

jason7sh said:

O.K where was this shot taken from? I give you credit, you searched all over the net for this one. To think of it, P said the internet is dead, here on the Org, we might be the only ones resuscitating his legend as an all around instrumentalist with photographic proof. Is this a sax that he is (improvising) playing?What song is and era is this from? Is this from an unreleased video? More info is needed.

[Edited 11/30/10 1:40am]

Dude, you're a utter dick!

Just to let you in on something, you don't have to search 'All over the internet' for a picture...If you have a collection of music videos. Its from Facedown 1996.

However, I would like to point out I never said 'he played the instrument', if you have seen that Video, it's easy to see that P is miming the sax as well as the violin...it's a joke!

Now, I think langebleu has answered the question here, just let it rest...

Dude, at least I have a dick that I know how to use instead of being an utter stank asshole such as yourself. There is no reason to be mean and rude on this thread. I'm still relatively new to this site and there's a lot that I want to know. Old impatient Orgers with an attitude such as yours shouldn't be on this site.

[Edited 11/30/10 7:02am]

jason7sh said:

Dude, at least I have a dick that I know how to use instead of being an utter stank asshole such as yourself. There is no reason to be mean and rude on this thread. I'm still relatively new to this site and there's a lot that I want to know. Old impatient Orgers with an attitude such as yours shouldn't be on this site.

[Edited 11/30/10 7:02am]

I find yourself to be utterly rude.

Just chill...

I think it's been said: Bass, guitar, drums, keyboard instruments, vocals, and probably random percussion instruments like tamborine, butt bongo, and skin flute.

purplemookiebut said:

Hello Purplemonkiebut, long time no comment. lol