How did he learn how to play all the instruments?

I heard he learned by ear... but how did he know that

what he was hearing was for example an A Chord?

If he never had any lessons, then he would have given the chord he

was hearing it's own name, right? He must have had some kind of help

And where did he get all the instruments from?

I know he had a piano at home, but where

did he get the drums, bass and guitar from ? Did he work for it?

I'm getting guitar lessons because I don't know any one, really no one

who plays guitar or any other instruments

and who could have given me atleast some tips

I also would love to learn more instruments but I can't afford any more.

So how the heck did prince do it ?

Musicians all around him...family, friends etc.

High School interview transcript:

http://prince.org/msg/7/128199

His parents were both musicians. Prince’s father pushed and taught him a great deal.

What a nice interview from so far back. Funny that the name of his band is so similar to Graham Central Station. Wiki says Larry's band have been active from 1973–1979, 1998–present. wonder if there's a connection. What did Prince's (I presume half-brother) end up doing? It's funny that his father helped him yet first he couldn't touch the piano. Prince must have made great efforts to show he had talent.

To the OP, good luck in your lessons! Books help sure, scales If you're doing it for recreational pleasure and you're musical, just go with the feeling and enjoy it once you have the basics under control. Personally, I prefer the piano it's softer on the fingers.

There are so many ways to learn how to play an instrument. I myself have made beats on mpc and been hitting rhythms on myself and different things that has an accoustic sound to it. Started playing drums at the age of 24. I'm 26 now, and haven't played one single concert on drums yet, nor have I played in any band for band practice with the drums. But I managed to get tighter on the drums than friends that have been playing in bands for several years. It would be wrong for me to say that I have only played drums every now and then for 2 years, cause I've been tapping rythms since high school. People learn their whole life. I believe dancer will learn how to play faster than people who never dance, nor listen closely to music they love.

^ In answer to Bohemian

Prince's half brother, Duane, worked at Paisley Park (security) at one time. He died last year aged 52.

The name of the band is thought to have been partly a nod towards Larry's group.

langebleu said:

High School interview transcript:

http://prince.org/msg/7/128199

Hmm.. in the interview he said he did have lessons. Then why is he always saying he never had lessons

Bohemian67 said:

What a nice interview from so far back. Funny that the name of his band is so similar to Graham Central Station. Wiki says Larry's band have been active from 1973–1979, 1998–present. wonder if there's a connection. What did Prince's (I presume half-brother) end up doing? It's funny that his father helped him yet first he couldn't touch the piano. Prince must have made great efforts to show he had talent.

To the OP, good luck in your lessons! Books help sure, scales If you're doing it for recreational pleasure and you're musical, just go with the feeling and enjoy it once you have the basics under control. Personally, I prefer the piano it's softer on the fingers.

Yeah piano is cool. I managed to persuade my parents into buying my little brother a keyboard because he's not doing so well in school and learning an instrument is supposed to help you in school, or something like that So I'm now teaching myself how to play the piano. I immediately started with the beautiful ones

Good for you. Maybe your brother is a kinetic and audio learner and then playing music is definitely going to help his learning. Help him to put his history content to music and rhythm. Might help.

Beautiful ones? Good choice

Diamonds and Pearls is what I started out on. The 3121 book also has some cool numbers. I wish Prince would bring out a big music bible with all the great stuff!

Prince probably had introductory lessons at school or some from his father, but never went to University to study music or have formal lessons outside that coz he was busy already in his band.

When you play in a band you'll get to try out the instruments that the other band members have. It's not that uncommon that people swap their instruments during band rehearsals. When you're young you're eager to learn. I also remember the biographies mentioning that he was allowed to practice playing different instruments in a music store owned by a person that was impressed by his talent.

As far as I know, Prince isn't completely "illiterate" about music theory. He knows at least the names of chords and some scales, because you can hear him talk about them in band rehearsals and he's talked about that stuff in some of the interviews.

There's no other way to learn how to play an instrument than by practicing a lot. Also, if you keep making mistakes try to correct those mistakes, so that you don't keep just repeating them and they don't hinder your progress.

I should note that Prince's material isn't the best choice for beginners, because his songs are usually arranged to multiple instruments and often don't sound "right" on just one instrument. A few of his song like The Beautiful Ones do work well enough on a solo instrument, though. Usually the transcriptions only cover some basic voicings and stuff like that, so you might have to figure out how to arrange the songs yourself to fit your style and chosen instrument. Workable, but not easy.

langebleu said:

High School interview transcript:

http://prince.org/msg/7/128199

"Eventually I would like to go to college and start lessons again when I'm much older."

LOL, that's probably the greatest Prince quote ever.

"How did he know that was he was hearing was for example an A chord" - ??? Seriously?!

You do understand that there are books, magazines, and things out there for people who want to teach themselves how to play instruments? There are also people to play with and ask questions if one were interested in teaching oneself to play instruments.

"Learning by yourself" or "teaching yourself" to play does not mean that you grew up in a jungle without any human contact, suckled by wolves, creating tones from twigs and rocks and somehow knowing that it's F-sharp and B-flat.

Sheesh!

artist76 said:

"Learning by yourself" or "teaching yourself" to play does not mean that you grew up in a jungle without any human contact, suckled by wolves, creating tones from twigs and rocks and somehow knowing that it's F-sharp and B-flat.

Sheesh!

Haha he always makes it sound like that because he always say he learned everything by ear

Do you really need to know the name for something if you can hear what it slides into, what it harmonises with what improvisation it sounds good with? If you had a bowl of ingredients and didn't know their names, does it mean you can't cook them?

Have you ever tried to learn do re mi in French?

Bohemian67 said:

Do you really need to know the name for something if you can hear what it slides into, what it harmonises with what improvisation it sounds good with? If you had a bowl of ingredients and didn't know their names, does it mean you can't cook them?

If you don't have aural skills, it doesn't help much to know a few scales to be able to get right into a jam session. Knowing the names of chords and pitches etc is a good way of easily communicating with other musicians. I have pretty good aural skills, but my knowledge about written music and theory stops me from being able to jump into a random jam session on instruments. But it's much easier with vocals, cause I know my throat better than the neck of my guitar or bass. Aural skills is probably something you're both more or less born with, as well ass being taught through years of practice. But a combination of being able to understand music on many levels is very helpful in a band situation.

True, as far as being part of a band you needs chord names.