independent and unofficial
Prince fan community
Welcome! Sign up or enter username and password to remember me
Forum jump
Forums > Prince: Music and More > Any musicians on here? Looking for some harmonic analysis of Prince's music
« Previous topic  Next topic »
Page 2 of 4 <1234>
  New topic   Printable     (Log in to 'subscribe' to this topic)
Reply #30 posted 05/31/16 7:26am

mtlfan

Cloreen said:

mtlfan said:

.

1. Were the Beatles the first popular act to put orchestration on a pop song? Fuck no. Anyone steeped in white, boomer music history might think so, but Etta James, At Last, 1960. Ben E. King, "Stand By Me," 1961. You will find orchestral string arrangements on Sinatra, etc..

.

2. For shits and giggles, let's add out-performing every other artist on the planet in a live setting (the Beatles, on the other hand, relied on Lennon's "let's make fun of the handicapped" shtick...)

.

3. Recording the first R&B triple album AND perfectly timing each disc to 60 minutes. ...

.

.

1. Huh? You are mentioning artists selling records to the adult market. The Beatles' audience at the time was teenagers. And yet they released a song with a string quartet as the prominent instrumentation!

.

2. Hmmm, so John's spastic movements were the band's big sell as a live act? Uhm, that's a new one. But to be fair I have heard from many who say The Beatles were not a great live act. And I laugh at that and say to myself, "Man, that person knows zilch about music." Uhh, exactly how did The Beatles make their mark? Get good? Become noted? I'll tell you. Performing live at The Cavern and in Hamburg. They were thee best live act on planet Earth. If they were not that then no one would ever have heard of John, Paul, and George.

.

3. By the way, getting all three "Emancipation" CDs to be exactly 60 minutes is not exactly something to crow about. What that means is that Prince didn't give a shit about how the song should naturally play out. He edited those songs or needlessly extended those songs simply so they would fit a precise sixty minute mark! So much for credibility in the what's best for the song department.

1. "Pop" is not limited to teenagers - adults listen to "popular music." Today we split hairs and call it adult contemporary, but it's still pop. It's not "avant garde."

2. Nah, wearing matching suits and haircuts were their big selling point as a live act. Kidding. Best live act on the planet? Beg to differ. Most televised, maybe. You're trolling another thread making similar claims about Elvis.

3. Tomato/tom-ah-to. Prince set out to do something innovative and he pulled it off, if you don't like the result, that doesn't change him succeeding at what he wanted to do, and doing it first.

Do you work in a cherry orchard or is cherry-picking just a hobby?

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #31 posted 05/31/16 9:38am

RodeoSchro

The shortest, best answer I can give you comes from "200 Balloons", where Prince says "My funk is multi-layered".

Damn right it is.

Prince's melodic and harmonic gifts are nearly unmatched in pop, rock, funk or any other kind of music. This is to say that I've never encountered anyone with the imagination he had. IMO what Prince did with pretty much each and every song was say to himself, "How can I construct this song so that nothing else sounds like it?" He'd use funky chord progressions, key changes, and sometimes even time signature chagnes ("Diamonds and Pearls" has FOUR different time signatures). How many tracks does the recording machine he was using have? Well, no reason to let any track go unused! Prince layed down so many underlying things on so many songs - it's ridiculous. I've been listening to, and playing, his stuff since 1978. And I still hear something new, under the mix, on one song or another almost every single day.

I think an analysis of Prince's music would be hard to accomplish because Prince did not adhere to rules or patterns. His imagination was so far-reaching, and his desire to never repeat himself so overwhelming, that I think his stuff can only be analyzed a song at a time.

As for keys, Prince played in every single key at one time or another - both major and minor. He'd get enamored sometimes with different chords or keys. For instance, Db is all over the "Around the World in a Day" album.

I can't think of a better musician if you want to spend time analyzing and learning about composition, structure and harmonics. Study enough of Prince's music and I think you will be exposed to just about every technique and combination there is.

Have fun, that's why he did all this!

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #32 posted 05/31/16 9:56am

Genesia

avatar

suomynona said:

No, but we do have a photo thread of nearly 4,000 posts! And a bunch of speculation threads where nobody but Prince knew the answer to.

I agree. Substance is rare in the Prince community.


So...only musicians should be Prince fans?

We don’t mourn artists because we knew them. We mourn them because they helped us know ourselves.
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #33 posted 05/31/16 9:59am

BombFunk

avatar

Trickology said:

Cloreen said:

.

"Adore"? Oh, man, don't make me laugh. If Teddy Pendergrass would have recorded "Adore," he would have listened back to it in the studio....and thrown it right into the nearest garbage can. Go listen to Teddy belt out "Turn Off The Lights" and come back here and tell us again that "Adore" is great. Go on. I dare you.

.

And this guy is calling me a moron?

Classic.

Sweet Jesus, you are the worst troll ever known on the org. confused


Yeah I put this troll on my block list some time ago, best thing is to ignore him/her as much as possible and skip all threads started by this retard. yes


dove Forever changed dove wilted

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #34 posted 05/31/16 10:00am

mightycow

avatar

jdcxc said:

Agree...that would be appropriate for his genius. Here is an interesting article on various jazz musician's take on Prince music... https://www.allaboutjazz....?width=768

that article was a good read, thanks for posting the link!

.

for people who didn't read the article I thought this was an interesting anecdote someone recalled :"An anecdote from Teena Marie was that when she and Prince were both the opening acts on Rick James' Fire It Up tour Rick was so enamored of Prince's personally programmed synth sounds that after the tour he ended up taking Prince's synthesizers (without Prince's permission or knowledge) and using the sounds on the Street Songs recording session before sending them back to Prince with a thank you note. "

.

didn't know that about Street Songs

[Edited 5/31/16 10:12am]

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #35 posted 05/31/16 10:45am

PurpleMusic07

mightycow said:



jdcxc said:


Agree...that would be appropriate for his genius. Here is an interesting article on various jazz musician's take on Prince music... https://www.allaboutjazz....?width=768

that article was a good read, thanks for posting the link!


.


for people who didn't read the article I thought this was an interesting anecdote someone recalled :"An anecdote from Teena Marie was that when she and Prince were both the opening acts on Rick James' Fire It Up tour Rick was so enamored of Prince's personally programmed synth sounds that after the tour he ended up taking Prince's synthesizers (without Prince's permission or knowledge) and using the sounds on the Street Songs recording session before sending them back to Prince with a thank you note. "


.


didn't know that about Street Songs

[Edited 5/31/16 10:12am]


what exactly does personally created synth sounds refer to? does that mean musical sequences created from synth instruments or that prince created actual custom sound types? ive recently started learning how to use an mpc, so i know you can take samples from anywhere, or import piano/synth lines or individual notes str8 from an instrument, but you can synthesize your own sounds??
"Where you are now is in a place that does not require time." - Rest In Power, PRINCE
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #36 posted 05/31/16 11:03am

cindyt

cindyt said:

I don't know but I just listened to I love you but I don't trust you anymore from a certain jazz festival which will remain nameless and those chords are overwhelming....unbelievable performance, really. And everything I've heard from that certain jazz festival both years I've listened to deserves some kind of harmonic analysis or performance analysis or something....wow.

Man, they removed it. I am sad...that was beautiful. I think Prince made a mistake about this youtube thing for the sake of his career...but that's just my opinion. Besides, we poorer people can't hear anything except if it's on youtube...it's not a matter of trying to rip off anyone...it's a matter of people not having money to buy things in this world and current economy. I am not trying to rip off anyone. I just make very little money, and this gives the poorer people of the world a way to enjoy music, too. Golly, music is one of my greatest joys in life. I'm glad Rachmaninoff and Samuel Barber aren't so strict.

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #37 posted 05/31/16 2:16pm

maplesyrupnjam

avatar

Cloreen said:

smoothcriminal12 said:

"The Beatles as Musicians" by Walter Everett, .... Has anyone come across anything similar?

.

I have those Everett books...they are a little too in depth.

.

The problem lies with Prince himself. He never was accessible to journalists looking to ask about his music. I have tons of music mags and I only have three with somewhat in depth "interviews" with Prince regarding his music. The skinny motherfucker from MPLS just never cared to share much about his craft. The Beatles and certainly the people in the studio working with them were very open about Beatles music.

.

But really what is there to know about Prince music? He'd lay down a funk groove and put some racy lyrics over it. Prince did not really push new boundaries with his music as The Beatles did. What I find most interesting about Prince music (and I wish a book would be written about this) is the sonic landscape of his records. The sounds he got from his instruments, the studio, and whatever were always interesting and stunning.

.

I still don't know what produces that ringing spiraling A note in the chorus of "I Would Die 4 U." "Cause you...BRWWWW...I would die for you....darling, if you want me to. You...BRWWWW..." I have seen live video and I know he plays it on guitar. Is it an octave? What effects? Brilliant sound. Wish I knew how to duplicate it.

.

The mystery of Prince music is not really his composition. It is his use of the studio to create the best sounding records out there. Man, such great tones on them. "Pheromone"? What the heck is the sound that drives the song's rhythm?

Lol. That's all he did eh? 1. That's like saying McCartney only wrote sugary melodies about meter maids, barbers and Uncle Albert.

2. That's called innovation. Man, you are so wedded to the past. If you can't see Prince's compositional abilities either there's nothing left to say. The ballad of Dorothy Parker is a compositional masterclass. As well as being sonically brilliant.

I love the Beatles, but without George Martin they would have been half the band they were. Lennon and McCartney had a magical alchemy as songwriters. On their own they went from average half the time to being poor most of it. Plastic Ono Band and Wings. Lol.

Wings are probably the worst band in History

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #38 posted 05/31/16 4:08pm

Cloreen

avatar

maplesyrupnjam said:

Plastic Ono Band and Wings. Lol.

Wings are probably the worst band in History

.

Uhh, you do realize that John's first solo album - "Plastic Ono Band" - was voted by Rolling Stone as the greatest rock and roll album in history. And it is. Just curious, have you ever heard it? How can you put a "LOL" after Plastic Ono Band? Do you put an LOL after you write 'Michael Jordan'? An "LOL" after you write 'Shakespeare'? Very odd of you to put an LOL after greatness. Maybe there is an irony that you are going for that I am not seeing.

.

As far as Wings goes....uhh, you do realize that "Band On The Run," Jet," "Junior's Farm," "Live And Let Die" are all Wings songs? Pretty brilliant stuff right there. Oh, and by the way, you know that short skinny motherfucker from Minneapolis? You know that guy? Well, uhh, he released an album called "Gold Nigga" and guess which artist he covered on that album? Yup, Wings. The Wings song "Let 'Em In" was covered on that LP. Prince had good taste. Why don't you?

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #39 posted 05/31/16 4:30pm

3rdEyeUnlimite
d

avatar

It took my mind out like a G Flat Major with an E in the bass
The Poster Formerly Known As Elephants and Flowers
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #40 posted 05/31/16 4:46pm

Superconductor

avatar

Robert3rd said:

Also: it seems he was a fan of songs in Bb or A:

Gold, Purple Rain, Glam Slam and I Wish You Heaven? Key of B flat major.

Starfish and Coffee, 7, and Raspberry Beret? A Major

When the Lights Go Down? A Mixolydian (another Mode)

Beautiful Strange? A Minor



So what does this mean? I am a bit rusty on music theory.
Did he write more music in major or minor chords?
Did he use chords or modes?
Do you think he knew how to read and write music?
There is a video circulating which shows him playing Summertime on the piano at a soundcheck, just beautiful, and he calls out the notes.
...every night another symphony...
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #41 posted 05/31/16 5:37pm

NikkiH

Superconductor said:

Robert3rd said:
Also: it seems he was a fan of songs in Bb or A: Gold, Purple Rain, Glam Slam and I Wish You Heaven? Key of B flat major. Starfish and Coffee, 7, and Raspberry Beret? A Major When the Lights Go Down? A Mixolydian (another Mode) Beautiful Strange? A Minor
So what does this mean? I am a bit rusty on music theory. Did he write more music in major or minor chords? Did he use chords or modes? Do you think he knew how to read and write music? There is a video circulating which shows him playing Summertime on the piano at a soundcheck, just beautiful, and he calls out the notes.

Musical Key means that the notes in a song are based on a specific scale. So say you have a song based on the C Major scale, it would be said to be in the "key" of C Major.

A scale is a pattern of notes usually spanning an octave( an interval that spans 8 notes). The first note of a scale and the pattern of intervals in that scale determines what type of scale it is. So you could have a C Major scale or a D Major scale that have the same pattern, but start and end on different notes. There are many types of scales and modes( a mode is basically also a scale...but it's a bit different). Most of our(American) concept of scales, keys, and chords comes from a combination of church modes from the middle ages in Western Europe, combined with other influences from other continents. Other countries have their own scales/modes that they use also that are a bit different from "westernized" nations.

A chord is when you play more than one note simultaneously with another note(you can have 2,3,4 note chords...), songs usually contain several chords in a specific pattern that are called "chord progressions". When he was playing "Summertime",he was calling out which chords he was playing so that the band could play along with his improvisation. There are also many types of chords, sounds of chords also change depending on the order of the notes and how they are played.

Most songs you hear have a melody that is played/sung on top of a chord progression (harmony), and most of those melodies and chord progressions fit within a specific scale,which is called a key.

It's been said that he couldn't read notation, but I honestly think he learned to somewhere in there. All the theory in the world can't give you a good ear, and he had one of the best.

I hope that made sense, I tried to make it short. wink

If you want to read about theory, this is a good site: https://www.musictheory.net/

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #42 posted 05/31/16 6:42pm

maplesyrupnjam

avatar

Cloreen said:

maplesyrupnjam said:

Wings are probably the worst band in History

.

Uhh, you do realize that John's first solo album - "Plastic Ono Band" - was voted by Rolling Stone as the greatest rock and roll album in history. And it is. Just curious, have you ever heard it? How can you put a "LOL" after Plastic Ono Band? Do you put an LOL after you write 'Michael Jordan'? An "LOL" after you write 'Shakespeare'? Very odd of you to put an LOL after greatness. Maybe there is an irony that you are going for that I am not seeing.

.

As far as Wings goes....uhh, you do realize that "Band On The Run," Jet," "Junior's Farm," "Live And Let Die" are all Wings songs? Pretty brilliant stuff right there. Oh, and by the way, you know that short skinny motherfucker from Minneapolis? You know that guy? Well, uhh, he released an album called "Gold Nigga" and guess which artist he covered on that album? Yup, Wings. The Wings song "Let 'Em In" was covered on that LP. Prince had good taste. Why don't you?

Yeah, Rolling Stone knelt at the altar of Lennon for years. Any band with Yoko Ono in it is by default terrible as far as I'm concerned. They were lifeless and dull

McCartney even said Wings were shit. Having his wife as a so called musician was the height of hubris and he knew it.

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #43 posted 05/31/16 6:50pm

maplesyrupnjam

avatar

Cloreen said:

maplesyrupnjam said:

Wings are probably the worst band in History

.

Uhh, you do realize that John's first solo album - "Plastic Ono Band" - was voted by Rolling Stone as the greatest rock and roll album in history. And it is. Just curious, have you ever heard it? How can you put a "LOL" after Plastic Ono Band? Do you put an LOL after you write 'Michael Jordan'? An "LOL" after you write 'Shakespeare'? Very odd of you to put an LOL after greatness. Maybe there is an irony that you are going for that I am not seeing.

.

As far as Wings goes....uhh, you do realize that "Band On The Run," Jet," "Junior's Farm," "Live And Let Die" are all Wings songs? Pretty brilliant stuff right there. Oh, and by the way, you know that short skinny motherfucker from Minneapolis? You know that guy? Well, uhh, he released an album called "Gold Nigga" and guess which artist he covered on that album? Yup, Wings. The Wings song "Let 'Em In" was covered on that LP. Prince had good taste. Why don't you?

As you do, you only pick up on the points I made about The Beatles, ignoring any rebutal to Prince's compositional skills. Seems par for the course for you.

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #44 posted 05/31/16 7:30pm

Cloreen

avatar

maplesyrupnjam said:

ignoring any rebutal to Prince's compositional skills.

.

I don't ignore it. Fact is there really is not much to say about Prince's compositional skills. His songs were either three chord ballads, one chord funk jams, or the experimental stuff. Not much to say at all about the first two, the third is worth noting.

.

Yes, when he tripped out is when Prince was at his best. My favorite songs were always the ones that when they first came on the CD I'd say, "What the f**k is that?!?" And usually he pulled that off not with compositional skill as you suggest, but rather by dipping into a sonic palette that no other musicians use. A song like "I Wish U Heaven" is simple basic I-IV-V chord compostion. No skill at all involved there. But the sound of the snare, the very heavy distorted guitar (hard rock power chords on a sing along love song???) is what makes that song brilliant. Prince was a master not of composition, but rather the sonic composition of his songs.

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #45 posted 05/31/16 7:31pm

BlackandRising

suomynona said:

No, but we do have a photo thread of nearly 4,000 posts! And a bunch of speculation threads where nobody but Prince knew the answer to.

I agree. Substance is rare in the Prince community.

ok, I haven't laughed at anything here since Apr 21, and this made me smile/laugh. I agree, the site is bereft of depth, and rife with speculation and pictures.

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #46 posted 05/31/16 7:45pm

maplesyrupnjam

avatar

Cloreen said:

maplesyrupnjam said:

.

I don't ignore it. Fact is there really is not much to say about Prince's compositional skills. His songs were either three chord ballads, one chord funk jams, or the experimental stuff. Not much to say at all about the first two, the third is worth noting.

.

Yes, when he tripped out is when Prince was at his best. My favorite songs were always the ones that when they first came on the CD I'd say, "What the f**k is that?!?" And usually he pulled that off not with compositional skill as you suggest, but rather by dipping into a sonic palette that no other musicians use. A song like "I Wish U Heaven" is simple basic I-IV-V chord compostion. No skill at all involved there. But the sound of the snare, the very heavy distorted guitar (hard rock power chords on a sing along love song???) is what makes that song brilliant. Prince was a master not of composition, but rather the sonic composition of his songs.

Sonic composition as opposed to the actual composition. Ah right. Like Moombeam Levels or The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker. Or Sometimes It Snows In April. Right, that has 3 chords in it's structure too. Or Around The World In A Day? Anotherloverholeinyohead? Riiighhtt...

Dear oh dear.

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #47 posted 05/31/16 7:51pm

214

Very interesting, thanks.

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #48 posted 05/31/16 7:57pm

Cloreen

avatar

maplesyrupnjam said:

Sonic composition as opposed to the actual composition. Ah right. Like Moombeam Levels or The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker. Or Sometimes It Snows In April. Right, that has 3 chords in it's structure too. Or Around The World In A Day? Anotherloverholeinyohead? Riiighhtt...

Dear oh dear.

.

I don't know what you are blabbing about.

.

Composition is the song's structure. The chords to the verses, chorus, bridges that make the song.

Then there is, for lack of something better to call it, a song's sonic composition -- what instrumentation is used and how those instruments are treated sonically.

.

That's not hard to follow now is it, dear, oh, dear.

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #49 posted 05/31/16 8:10pm

BlackandRising

RodeoSchro said:

The shortest, best answer I can give you comes from "200 Balloons", where Prince says "My funk is multi-layered".

Damn right it is.

Prince's melodic and harmonic gifts are nearly unmatched in pop, rock, funk or any other kind of music. This is to say that I've never encountered anyone with the imagination he had. IMO what Prince did with pretty much each and every song was say to himself, "How can I construct this song so that nothing else sounds like it?" He'd use funky chord progressions, key changes, and sometimes even time signature chagnes ("Diamonds and Pearls" has FOUR different time signatures). How many tracks does the recording machine he was using have? Well, no reason to let any track go unused! Prince layed down so many underlying things on so many songs - it's ridiculous. I've been listening to, and playing, his stuff since 1978. And I still hear something new, under the mix, on one song or another almost every single day.

I think an analysis of Prince's music would be hard to accomplish because Prince did not adhere to rules or patterns. His imagination was so far-reaching, and his desire to never repeat himself so overwhelming, that I think his stuff can only be analyzed a song at a time.

As for keys, Prince played in every single key at one time or another - both major and minor. He'd get enamored sometimes with different chords or keys. For instance, Db is all over the "Around the World in a Day" album.

I can't think of a better musician if you want to spend time analyzing and learning about composition, structure and harmonics. Study enough of Prince's music and I think you will be exposed to just about every technique and combination there is.

Have fun, that's why he did all this!

This right here. I love listening to Prince on vinyl with great headphones, because if I'm in a space where I'm passifely listening, I typically hear something in each and every song that I didn't hear before.

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #50 posted 06/01/16 9:38am

bonatoc

avatar

Cloreen said:

maplesyrupnjam said:

Sonic composition as opposed to the actual composition. Ah right. Like Moombeam Levels or The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker. Or Sometimes It Snows In April. Right, that has 3 chords in it's structure too. Or Around The World In A Day? Anotherloverholeinyohead? Riiighhtt...

Dear oh dear.

.

I don't know what you are blabbing about.

.

Composition is the song's structure. The chords to the verses, chorus, bridges that make the song.

Then there is, for lack of something better to call it, a song's sonic composition -- what instrumentation is used and how those instruments are treated sonically.

.

That's not hard to follow now is it, dear, oh, dear.



You're referring to "arrangements", Oh Troll of all Trolls.
For all the complex arrangements "Mountains" wears, the song also works in its acoustic version.
Oh wait, there's only two chords! Must mean it sucks too!

So basically you're saying that all of Prince's output was based on "classic" chord sequences.

Composition is also (and foremost) melody.
But you're right, he sucked at that too.
But you obviously don't know what I'm "blabbing about" too.

Do Ourselves A Favor, get outta here.

The Colors R brighter, the Bond is much tighter
No Child's a failure
Until the Blue Sailboat sails him away from his dreams
Don't Ever Lose, Don't Ever Lose
Don't Ever Lose Your Dreams
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #51 posted 06/01/16 11:17am

bonatoc

avatar

Say, bacon skin, care to explain how the "4 The Tears In Your Eyes" verses are I/IV/V?

I just listened to "Hello" on my excellent headphones, and I thought of you.

And I know how to EQ, and you do not.

The two bass lines are a major second away for most of the time.
You do know what a "major second" is, don't U punk?

I can't even begin to explain you all that is going on in "Hello", we'd be up all night,
and you'll probably fall of your pedestal so high.

You'll never know when is an actual hi-hat and when it's Skipper doing the hi-hat.

Because you don't really care.

Deaf Tourist.


chainsaw
machinegun
shoot3
laser


[Edited 6/1/16 11:29am]

The Colors R brighter, the Bond is much tighter
No Child's a failure
Until the Blue Sailboat sails him away from his dreams
Don't Ever Lose, Don't Ever Lose
Don't Ever Lose Your Dreams
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #52 posted 06/01/16 11:21am

maplesyrupnjam

avatar

Cloreen said:

maplesyrupnjam said:

Sonic composition as opposed to the actual composition. Ah right. Like Moombeam Levels or The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker. Or Sometimes It Snows In April. Right, that has 3 chords in it's structure too. Or Around The World In A Day? Anotherloverholeinyohead? Riiighhtt...

Dear oh dear.

.

I don't know what you are blabbing about.

.

Composition is the song's structure. The chords to the verses, chorus, bridges that make the song.

Then there is, for lack of something better to call it, a song's sonic composition -- what instrumentation is used and how those instruments are treated sonically.

.

That's not hard to follow now is it, dear, oh, dear.

You are a cluelsess fool. I just rebutted your ludicrous 3 chord notion for Prince's ballads. I'm talking about a composition like Sometimes It Snows In April. Not it's sonic base, the actual COMPOSITION, which incidentally contains more than 3 CHORD changes. I'm well aware what song composition is FFS.

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #53 posted 06/01/16 11:27am

bonatoc

avatar

Robert3rd said:

I like to play Moonbeam Levels on the piano.

The first sentences of verse 1 and 2 follow a progression from the Lydian Mode (that's where the fourth note is raised a half step.

Prince starts on the fifth of the scale (C#), moves to Bsharp (The Lydian note), and continues to the third (A#), then back to Lydian (B#), then for more fun, he sings an augmented 5th. The Lydian mode has been linked with ethereal and dreamlike qualities (something Moonbeam has in spades), and the most well known use of a Lydian interval would be the first two notes in the Simpsons opening theme song.

I'd post out all the changes to Moonbeam Levels, but I'm lazy.
I'll tell you that the song is in F#

One more: Gold and Purple Rain are both written in B flat major and the only difference between the chord changes in the verses is the use of Flat 7 in the bass on the second chord of Gold (B flat major over A flat) while the second chord of Purple Rain goes to the 6th (G).


yes


The Colors R brighter, the Bond is much tighter
No Child's a failure
Until the Blue Sailboat sails him away from his dreams
Don't Ever Lose, Don't Ever Lose
Don't Ever Lose Your Dreams
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #54 posted 06/01/16 11:55am

Cloreen

avatar

bonatoc said:



So basically you're saying that all of Prince's output was based on "classic" chord sequences.

.

What the heck are you blabbing about? Show me where I said "all"?

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #55 posted 06/01/16 12:03pm

Cloreen

avatar

maplesyrupnjam said:

I'm talking about a composition like Sometimes It Snows In April. Not it's sonic base, the actual COMPOSITION, which incidentally contains more than 3 CHORD changes.

.

You really think "Snow In April" is built around a complex song structure?

My God, I picked up my guitar and figured that one out in about thirty-five seconds.

.

Oh, and by the way, "Sometimes It Snows In April" was written by two females, so just how complex do you think it could really be? Even the greatest female composer of them all - Carole King - rarely wrote a song beyond the simplistic I-IV-V song structure.

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #56 posted 06/01/16 12:24pm

214

Cloreen said:

maplesyrupnjam said:

I'm talking about a composition like Sometimes It Snows In April. Not it's sonic base, the actual COMPOSITION, which incidentally contains more than 3 CHORD changes.

.

You really think "Snow In April" is built around a complex song structure?

My God, I picked up my guitar and figured that one out in about thirty-five seconds.

.

Oh, and by the way, "Sometimes It Snows In April" was written by two females, so just how complex do you think it could really be? Even the greatest female composer of them all - Carole King - rarely wrote a song beyond the simplistic I-IV-V song structure.

eek Are you saying women are not capable of composing complex songs? that they are below the men's skills?

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #57 posted 06/01/16 12:26pm

Guitarhero

214 said:

Cloreen said:

.

You really think "Snow In April" is built around a complex song structure?

My God, I picked up my guitar and figured that one out in about thirty-five seconds.

.

Oh, and by the way, "Sometimes It Snows In April" was written by two females, so just how complex do you think it could really be? Even the greatest female composer of them all - Carole King - rarely wrote a song beyond the simplistic I-IV-V song structure.

eek Are you saying women are not capable of composing complex songs? that they are below the men's skills?

It looks a sexist comment to me too. eek

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #58 posted 06/01/16 12:34pm

maplesyrupnjam

avatar

Cloreen said:

maplesyrupnjam said:

I'm talking about a composition like Sometimes It Snows In April. Not it's sonic base, the actual COMPOSITION, which incidentally contains more than 3 CHORD changes.

.

You really think "Snow In April" is built around a complex song structure?

My God, I picked up my guitar and figured that one out in about thirty-five seconds.

.

Oh, and by the way, "Sometimes It Snows In April" was written by two females, so just how complex do you think it could really be? Even the greatest female composer of them all - Carole King - rarely wrote a song beyond the simplistic I-IV-V song structure.

Where did I say it was complex? I didn't. Not a 3 chord ditty though is it? Lying again.. You must skim read peoples replys on here. All of this nonsense would have been avoided If you at the humility to retract your STATEMENT that Prince only wrote '3 chord ballads' There are numerous songs in the man's canon which make a mockery of your claim. Compositional shifts in structure are litterd through his stuff along withe the 3 CHORD tunes.

What the fuck has Carole King got to do with anything? That adds nothing. I don't care about Carole King, though admittedly Tapestry is great. So, I'm out on this, which I'm sure is a relief to everyone who has been reading our tedious back and forth.

You made a statistically wrong assertion from the outset. Now, I'm done.

  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Reply #59 posted 06/01/16 12:45pm

bonatoc

avatar

Cloreen said:

maplesyrupnjam said:

.

I don't ignore it. Fact is there really is not much to say about Prince's compositional skills. His songs were either three chord ballads, one chord funk jams, or the experimental stuff. Not much to say at all about the first two, the third is worth noting.

.

Yes, when he tripped out is when Prince was at his best. My favorite songs were always the ones that when they first came on the CD I'd say, "What the f**k is that?!?" And usually he pulled that off not with compositional skill as you suggest, but rather by dipping into a sonic palette that no other musicians use. A song like "I Wish U Heaven" is simple basic I-IV-V chord compostion. No skill at all involved there. But the sound of the snare, the very heavy distorted guitar (hard rock power chords on a sing along love song???) is what makes that song brilliant. Prince was a master not of composition, but rather the sonic composition of his songs.


Right here, you pedantic, sexist moron.

That's a "yes" that only speaks to you, and you're trying to impose your view.

I dn't give a shit about "your favorite songs". There, that's proof that you don't know what objectivity is, and that you can't tell good music from bad.
Grow up, you're just pissed off because you know Lennon did only sappy ballads, bad rock and roll covers, and primal screams about his dead mum, and how he spitted on Macca and Dylan, and how he believed only in himself.

Kinda like you, fits you well.

Just look at page 1 and the schmaltzy ballad you posted,
arguing this soundtrack for seventies porno is better than "Adore".
From an artist the world is going to let slip down into oblivion, who tries so hard to be Otis Redding or Sam Cooke or what the fuck his photocopied influence of the week is.

You're the Salieri type. You think you like music, but you don't know you do for the wrong reasons. You probably get a boner when you listen to "Dark Side Of The Moon".

You're the kind who likes doing poor imitations of stuff vaguely resembling Prince-like drum machine patterns on your Garageband; and then pollute your friends ears with it, all proud ("I did it myself!").

"Sonic compositions of his songs". Da foque are you talking about.
That's blabbering alright.
Go soak your head.



[Edited 6/1/16 12:56pm]

The Colors R brighter, the Bond is much tighter
No Child's a failure
Until the Blue Sailboat sails him away from his dreams
Don't Ever Lose, Don't Ever Lose
Don't Ever Lose Your Dreams
  - E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator
Page 2 of 4 <1234>
  New topic   Printable     (Log in to 'subscribe' to this topic)
« Previous topic  Next topic »
Forums > Prince: Music and More > Any musicians on here? Looking for some harmonic analysis of Prince's music