stinasings said:

Questlove tweeted the other day that he thinks Prince is a better at the bass than the guitar. He mentioned his work on the Time album. I honestly never focused on his bass playing before. What do ya'll think?

Prince was a gifted seasoned musician. He was a fantastic bass player (see link below), but you can't comapre the forms. Prince was one of the very BEST guitar players of all time. The man was a GUITAR GOD period.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQDFmmougCM

[Edited 5/15/16 18:09pm]

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To be perfectly honest, Prince's bass playing was simple and rudimentary. He rarely came up with a top bass line -- "1 + 1 + 1 = 3," and "17 Days" are the only ones that stand out.

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Anytime you hear a wicked bass line on a Prince song, check the credits...it ain't Prince. "Get Off" and "Space" -- two of the best bass lines on Prince albums -- ain't credited to Prince.

[Edited 5/15/16 18:17pm]

I loved P's bass playing. He always seemed to have a friendly competition with Terry Lewis (who was just as funky). And I've always dug P's keyboard work a little bit more than his guitar playing.

He spent much more time on guitar so he was better on guitar. And piano.

Cloreen said:

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To be perfectly honest, Prince's bass playing was simple and rudimentary. He rarely came up with a top bass line -- "1 + 1 + 1 = 3," and "17 Days" are the only ones that stand out.

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Anytime you hear a wicked bass line on a Prince song, check the credits...it ain't Prince. "Get Off" and "Space" -- two of the best bass lines on Prince albums -- ain't credited to Prince.

[Edited 5/15/16 18:17pm]

Isn't that where the chamrs are? Erotic City an Cool are the easiest basslines to play, yet even the most experienced bass player couldn't write something like that.

Cloreen said:

stinasings said:

Questlove tweeted the other day that he thinks Prince is a better at the bass than the guitar. He mentioned his work on the Time album. I honestly never focused on his bass playing before. What do ya'll think?

Whoever that person is, he's certainly not a bass player, nor a guitar player.

toshi said:

Cloreen said:

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To be perfectly honest, Prince's bass playing was simple and rudimentary. He rarely came up with a top bass line -- "1 + 1 + 1 = 3," and "17 Days" are the only ones that stand out.

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Anytime you hear a wicked bass line on a Prince song, check the credits...it ain't Prince. "Get Off" and "Space" -- two of the best bass lines on Prince albums -- ain't credited to Prince.

[Edited 5/15/16 18:17pm]

You talking writing? Or are you talking playing?


How about the one you named yourself after?

can't be measured

A lot of Prince's bass work is underrated. He had some killer bass lines.

Cloreen said:

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To be perfectly honest, Prince's bass playing was simple and rudimentary. He rarely came up with a top bass line -- "1 + 1 + 1 = 3," and "17 Days" are the only ones that stand out.

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Anytime you hear a wicked bass line on a Prince song, check the credits...it ain't Prince. "Get Off" and "Space" -- two of the best bass lines on Prince albums -- ain't credited to Prince.

[Edited 5/15/16 18:17pm]

'He rarely came up with a top bass line'...........what a strange comment after one of the greatest drummers on the planet says he was great on bass and yet how could a Prince fan not know the bass line from 777-9311? Or Let's Work? Or Irresistable Bitch? How strange is this? But to each his own and this is all subjective, I get it but I just don't understand why Prince is the one artist that his own fans take shots at and downplay and downgrade at every chance they get. This happens to no other artist but Prince and his fans. Crazy.

Cloreen said:

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To be perfectly honest, Prince's bass playing was simple and rudimentary. He rarely came up with a top bass line -- "1 + 1 + 1 = 3," and "17 Days" are the only ones that stand out.

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Anytime you hear a wicked bass line on a Prince song, check the credits...it ain't Prince. "Get Off" and "Space" -- two of the best bass lines on Prince albums -- ain't credited to Prince.

I guess you really have a thing for synth bass stabs on the 1 huh? I'd say Prince's basslines on Lady Cab Driver and 777-9311 alone invalidate everything you wrote here.

bluegangsta said:

Isn't that where the chamrs are? Erotic City an Cool are the easiest basslines to play, yet even the most experienced bass player couldn't write something like that.

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That's a good point.

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Obviously there were a number of bass players in Prince's camp who were technically more proficient than Prince, and yet the childishly simple slide from F to G on "17 Days" was far more brilliant than anything any Julliard schooled bassist could come up with.

Askani said:

How about the one you named yourself after?

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Didn't Prince say the bass on "Cloreen Bacon Skin" was not a bass line at all? Said it was just a percussive rhythm.

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Having said that, proper bass line or not, the thing is absolutely killer. When that low rumble first enters the song, it is a top five moment in all of Prince music. Yeah!

Polo1026 said:

I just don't understand why Prince is the one artist that his own fans take shots at and downplay and downgrade at every chance they get. This happens to no other artist but Prince and his fans. Crazy.

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No other artist? Try going to a Beatle site. Forty-seven years on and people still can't forgive John for marrying Yoko.

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Good fans critique their favorite artist's work. Yeah, getting on John for marrying Yoko is nuts, but ripping apart that band's decision to put "Revolution #9" onto an album is fair play. It's OK to say a Prince song or lyric or instrument part didn't work.

Cloreen said:

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To be perfectly honest, Prince's bass playing was simple and rudimentary.

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LMAO, you're either trolling or just fucking clueless.

[Edited 5/16/16 16:58pm]

Junglehop said:

Cloreen said:

Polo1026 said:

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No other artist? Try going to a Beatle site. Forty-seven years on and people still can't forgive John for marrying Yoko.

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Good fans critique their favorite artist's work. Yeah, getting on John for marrying Yoko is nuts, but ripping apart that band's decision to put "Revolution #9" onto an album is fair play. It's OK to say a Prince song or lyric or instrument part didn't work.

Questioning life choices for an artist is an American thing to do and you'll have second guessing about songs and song placement on albums and playlists and such but what you won't find is a Beatle fan saying any of the Beatles were pedestrian on their instrument or as musicians. It just never goes that far for others as much as it does for Prince IMO. It's like a right of passage for a Prince.Org fan to say Prince is not great on guitar after a contemporary like Eric Clapton or Slash or Edge will say Prince is one of the very best they've ever heard in their lives. This site is truly populated with the greatest unheard musicians and critics that have ever lived. Or simply listening to the greatest of all time has made many of us so jaded that even Prince isn't safe from the haughty, elite musical ear of Prince fans.

the guitar is a harder instrument to master I think. Chords and solos. Bass playing is simple in comparison. Prince was great at several instruments. Guitar and Piano are his best though.

Polo1026 said:

but what you won't find is a Beatle fan saying any of the Beatles were pedestrian on their instrument or as musicians.

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What are you talking about? The Beatles themselves said other members were pedestrian on their instruments. Remember John's quote about Ringo's drumming? "He's not even the best drummer in The Beatles." Pretty harsh, no?

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Beatle fan are notorious for putting Ringo below Keith Moon, knocking George's guitar solos, mocking Paul's simple love song lyrics (ever wonder why Paul had to write the song "Silly Love Songs"?), or John's rudimentary guitar/piano skills.

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Nothing wrong at all in looking at our favorite artists' flaws. If they were 100% perfect in everything they did it would be rather boring. I'm kind of glad Prince gave us "Purple Rain" and the decidedly odd "Xpectation."

ShockMyWire said:

PeteSilas said:

the guitar is a harder instrument to master I think. Chords and solos. Bass playing is simple in comparison. Prince was great at several instruments. Guitar and Piano are his best though.

Bass playing is feel, plucking style, groove, pocket, etc. Nuances really not paid much attention by a listener. What made Prince so good as a bass player was the synergy with his drums which of course is due to Prince being the drummer on most records when Morris wasn't around.

PeteSilas said:

the guitar is a harder instrument to master I think. Chords and solos. Bass playing is simple in comparison.

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Both are difficult to master, but to be honest, bass is the harder of the two. It really is more about feel. You either have it or you don't. Kind of like dancing.

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Bass is the key to all great popular music. Best thing I ever heard about bass is the following:
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You go see a band in a bar with a great guitarist, you go away saying, "Man, what a great guitar player."
You go see a band in a bar with a great bassist, you go away saying, "Man what a great band."

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That says it all about bass.

Cloreen said:

Polo1026 said:

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What are you talking about? The Beatles themselves said other members were pedestrian on their instruments. Remember John's quote about Ringo's drumming? "He's not even the best drummer in The Beatles." Pretty harsh, no?

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Beatle fan are notorious for putting Ringo below Keith Moon, knocking George's guitar solos, mocking Paul's simple love song lyrics (ever wonder why Paul had to write the song "Silly Love Songs"?), or John's rudimentary guitar/piano skills.

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Nothing wrong at all in looking at our favorite artists' flaws. If they were 100% perfect in everything they did it would be rather boring. I'm kind of glad Prince gave us "Purple Rain" and the decidedly odd "Xpectation."

This is the Beatles talking about each other, not fans talking about the Beatles which is my issue. The members of the Prince's bands have talked about limitations on certain instruments and they should be able to judge that and we should take that into account. But to outright say Prince is rudimentary on the bass is kinda harsh from a fan don't you think?

Polo1026 said:

to outright say Prince is rudimentary on the bass is kinda harsh from a fan don't you think?

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I'm just saying his bass lines that he applied to his songs were rudimentary. Nonetheless, as bluegangsta correctly pointed out above, those simple bass lines seem to work wonderfully. But it's true, Prince laid down his bass lines without the effort he seemed to put behind his guitar work or keyboard lines. Heck, in "When Doves Cry" he didn't even bother with bass.

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I've been doing the entire catalogue in order thing and I really did say to myself the bass lines on much of this material is not the prominent feature of the song. Sure there are examples of killer bass as I've pointed out above, but over 40 albums of material those stellar bass lines are few and far between. Prince was more guitarist/keyboardist. No big deal.

Cloreen said:

PeteSilas said:

the guitar is a harder instrument to master I think. Chords and solos. Bass playing is simple in comparison.

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Both are difficult to master, but to be honest, bass is the harder of the two. It really is more about feel. You either have it or you don't. Kind of like dancing.

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Bass is the key to all great popular music. Best thing I ever heard about bass is the following:
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You go see a band in a bar with a great guitarist, you go away saying, "Man, what a great guitar player."
You go see a band in a bar with a great bassist, you go away saying, "Man what a great band."

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That says it all about bass.

I don't know, i could be wrong, i don't play either so i ain't the best gauge. I play piano, which is harder than both. But as a listener and observer, the guitar just seems so much more complicated to me.