lostangel078 said:

I've been in the audience watching Elton John do it, so yes, he can.

jazzvirtuoso said:

lostangel078 said:

Other than his father, are there a list of certain Piano players that influenced Prince on the keys (other than obvious Stevie Wonder)?

Also, where would you list Prince on the list of pop/rock music piano greats? Same league as guys like Elton John, Billy Joel, etc? Higher than Little Richard & Stevie?

Well as far as jazz pianist go (to my knowledge) he was influenced by people like Bill Evans, Duke Ellington and Oscar Peterson. He would attend Oscar's shows in Canada. If you haven't ever listened to Oscar Peterson you are in for a treat he was the greatest jazz pianist that ever lived. And yes even better than Art Tatum!

As much as I love prince I'm not comfortable comparing him to guys like Elton John or Billy Joel. Little Richard maybe. But, I know for a fact that Stevie Wonder would rip Prince a new asshole on keys and I'm pretty sure Prince recognized this too, or at least I suspect he did.

I mean and I hate to say it but size and strength does account for alot like in sports, same thing for piano (here come the critics). Oscar Peterson- 6'3, Rachmanioff 6'6, Stevie Wonders 6'0, Prince 5'3?? Elton John 5'8, Billy Joel 5'5.

The first three had super hand spans and could cover more distance quicker. Steph curry vs Lebron James who would make it to the goal faster? To be fair, I suspect that Prince had some unusual anatomy issues ah no not that part . I just always suspected by listening to his voicings and watching his hands that he had a hand span larger than normal for someone of his height. If someone can affirm whether this is true or not I'd appreciate it.

And look at Stevie Wonders hand span, speed, articulation, abilty to swing, experience and ears. I think that he had Prince in all these areas! In fact I'd say Stevie Wonder tops all of the great R&B pianists and most of the rock ones too, ditto for Elton John and Billy Joel.

I make that assessment based on my experince and knowledge. I'm a jazz pianist and I've studied all the greats in jazz. And although I'm not a classical pianist I've studied all the greats in that genre too! I've played nearly all my life starting from childhood. But what I always wanted from Prince and never got was a REAL jazz piano album playing nothing but jazz standards and yes he was very capable of it, even Stevie addmited that. But the mods will not allow me to post anything that supports my views and for me to post these kinds of prince materials would surely get me banned!!

prince was studying Ray Charles performances getting ready for piano and microphone tour

NinaB said:

jazzvirtuoso said:

Well as far as jazz pianist go (to my knowledge) he was influenced by people like Bill Evans, Duke Ellington and Oscar Peterson. He would attend Oscar's shows in Canada. If you haven't ever listened to Oscar Peterson you are in for a treat he was the greatest jazz pianist that ever lived. And yes even better than Art Tatum!

As much as I love prince I'm not comfortable comparing him to guys like Elton John or Billy Joel. Little Richard maybe. But, I know for a fact that Stevie Wonder would rip Prince a new asshole on keys and I'm pretty sure Prince recognized this too, or at least I suspect he did.

I mean and I hate to say it but size and strength does account for alot like in sports, same thing for piano (here come the critics). Oscar Peterson- 6'3, Rachmanioff 6'6, Stevie Wonders 6'0, Prince 5'3?? Elton John 5'8, Billy Joel 5'5.

The first three had super hand spans and could cover more distance quicker. Steph curry vs Lebron James who would make it to the goal faster? To be fair, I suspect that Prince had some unusual anatomy issues ah no not that part . I just always suspected by listening to his voicings and watching his hands that he had a hand span larger than normal for someone of his height. If someone can affirm whether this is true or not I'd appreciate it.

And look at Stevie Wonders hand span, speed, articulation, abilty to swing, experience and ears. I think that he had Prince in all these areas! In fact I'd say Stevie Wonder tops all of the great R&B pianists and most of the rock ones too, ditto for Elton John and Billy Joel.

I make that assessment based on my experince and knowledge. I'm a jazz pianist and I've studied all the greats in jazz. And although I'm not a classical pianist I've studied all the greats in that genre too! I've played nearly all my life starting from childhood. But what I always wanted from Prince and never got was a REAL jazz piano album playing nothing but jazz standards and yes he was very capable of it, even Stevie addmited that. But the mods will not allow me to post anything that supports my views and for me to post these kinds of prince materials would surely get me banned!!

Interesting what u say about his hand span. I had thought that too. I took piano as a child & my teacher was always pulling & tugging on my little finger
She was big on strengthening it, & I'm 5' 10" with long fingers, 'Pianists fingers' my Mum always said I also was gonna say he was big into Oscar Peterson. I've always loved P on the keys
[Edited 6/28/16 12:45pm]

its time for Jazz to die -prince

jazzvirtuoso said:

lostangel078 said:

Other than his father, are there a list of certain Piano players that influenced Prince on the keys (other than obvious Stevie Wonder)? Also, where would you list Prince on the list of pop/rock music piano greats? Same league as guys like Elton John, Billy Joel, etc? Higher than Little Richard & Stevie?

Well as far as jazz pianist go (to my knowledge) he was influenced by people like Bill Evans, Duke Ellington and Oscar Peterson. He would attend Oscar's shows in Canada. If you haven't ever listened to Oscar Peterson you are in for a treat he was the greatest jazz pianist that ever lived. And yes even better than Art Tatum! As much as I love prince I'm not comfortable comparing him to guys like Elton John or Billy Joel. Little Richard maybe. But, I know for a fact that Stevie Wonder would rip Prince a new asshole on keys and I'm pretty sure Prince recognized this too, or at least I suspect he did. I mean and I hate to say it but size and strength does account for alot like in sports, same thing for piano (here come the critics). Oscar Peterson- 6'3, Rachmanioff 6'6, Stevie Wonders 6'0, Prince 5'3?? Elton John 5'8, Billy Joel 5'5. The first three had super hand spans and could cover more distance quicker. Steph curry vs Lebron James who would make it to the goal faster? To be fair, I suspect that Prince had some unusual anatomy issues ah no not that part . I just always suspected by listening to his voicings and watching his hands that he had a hand span larger than normal for someone of his height. If someone can affirm whether this is true or not I'd appreciate it. And look at Stevie Wonders hand span, speed, articulation, abilty to swing, experience and ears. I think that he had Prince in all these areas! In fact I'd say Stevie Wonder tops all of the great R&B pianists and most of the rock ones too, ditto for Elton John and Billy Joel. I make that assessment based on my experince and knowledge. I'm a jazz pianist and I've studied all the greats in jazz. And although I'm not a classical pianist I've studied all the greats in that genre too! I've played nearly all my life starting from childhood. But what I always wanted from Prince and never got was a REAL jazz piano album playing nothing but jazz standards and yes he was very capable of it, even Stevie addmited that. But the mods will not allow me to post anything that supports my views and for me to post these kinds of prince materials would surely get me banned!!

I agree with your assessment of the late Oscar Peterson. He's my absolute favorite piano player of all time, I'd also say that he was the greatest jazz pianist that ever lived. I'm a jazz guitarist that's been highly influenced by Oscar and jazz organist Jimmy Smith. As a guitarist, I've always listened to pianists, horn players, bassists, as well as guitarists for inspiration and influence. Being a huge fan of Peterson's phrasing & comping, I could hear similiar things in the playing of PRN. Another one of my favorite jazz players would be The Count. He may not have been as technically proficient as some of the other greats but his comping was to die for, to me at least. I've flown off of the deep end with my commenting.

he was great considering how many other things he did. It's hard enough mastering one instrument let alone several. Even though the piano was his first instrument, I'd say that the guitar was his main one and the one he truly excelled at. On piano and keys he was more of a pioneer and a stylistic influence than he was a great player, although he was very good. There are millions of pianists and plenty of super great ones, the actual technical ability doesn't really mean that much. it's his creativity, his songwriting and his passion that comes through in live performance. Elvis wasn't a great guitarist either but i'd take his guitar player over many many better ones because he's got such a feel for it. Those things count. Obviously, he's not as good as Billy Joel or Elton John or Jerry Lee Lewis or Little Richard but as i said, it's not his main instrument.

in terms of his inspiration, no denying bernie worrel had a huge imprint on his keyboard stylings, his father gave him that richer harmonic texture that almost made him a jazzman, his church gave him the simple beatiful gospel voicings which would pop up in the damndest of places (opening of lets go crazy,bridge in I could never take the place of your man) and in terms of how and what he did when he played, Little Richard and Jerry lee Lewis would get a mention in his eighties performances. My contention is his composition sensibility in chords and in solo runs is his strength, not his playing. Arguably, his keyboard production had the biggest influence on 80's music, more than anyone else.

2olskool4u said:

You guys talk shit! What he played, he played excellently. Polished and accurate as with everything he played, he spanned many genres on piano alone, he was awesome on madhouse, and that was when he was in his 20's, he just got better over the years. Theres a few rare videos knocking about,some of you should see before comparing him to this and that

i'm not talking shit at all, i'm a pianist and he's way fucking better than I am but you got to realize that there are millions of musicians, some who've dedicated themselves only to the piano, not to any other instrument, not to any other aspect of music, just piano. Oscar Peterson is not known as a singer a dancer, a guitarist a composer or producer, he is known as the baddest jazz pianist of all time. Prince was phenomenal but saying he was the greatest pianist is kinda like saying he's a greater dancer than the professionals who study and live dance, no way.

jazzvirtuoso said:

NinaB said:

Interesting what u say about his hand span. I had thought that too. I took piano as a child & my teacher was always pulling & tugging on my little finger
She was big on strengthening it, & I'm 5' 10" with long fingers, 'Pianists fingers' my Mum always said I also was gonna say he was big into Oscar Peterson. I've always loved P on the keys
[Edited 6/28/16 12:45pm]

Yep, glad you mentioned this, I was going to expand on it but decided not to. But anyway I realized some years back that I was unable to reach tenths. So, I did my research and I stretched them almost every day oh I would say it took about a year. After that I could reach tenths fairly easy, but I did notice after that that my left hand is longer than my right hand, lol!

But then again I'm naturally left handed anyway, but mostly write with my right hand and I do most every thing else with my left.

PeteSilas said:

NinaB said:

jazzvirtuoso said:

Yep, glad you mentioned this, I was going to expand on it but decided not to. But anyway I realized some years back that I was unable to reach tenths. So, I did my research and I stretched them almost every day oh I would say it took about a year. After that I could reach tenths fairly easy, but I did notice after that that my left hand is longer than my right hand, lol!

But then again I'm naturally left handed anyway, but mostly write with my right hand and I do most every thing else with my left.

She was a fiend 4 those stretches, she was right tho. My main challenge was not so much reach, but hitting the keys with the same strength in my little fingers as the rest. Didn't help that I was practicing at home on a synth. Pianists run in the fam, also guitarists. Unfortunately I had 2 stop my lessons coz my synth was stolen when we got burgled I've lived vicariously thru Pianists ever since

jazzvirtuoso said:

NinaB said:

She was a fiend 4 those stretches, she was right tho. My main challenge was not so much reach, but hitting the keys with the same strength in my little fingers as the rest. Didn't help that I was practicing at home on a synth. Pianists run in the fam, also guitarists. Unfortunately I had 2 stop my lessons coz my synth was stolen when we got burgled I've lived vicariously thru Pianists ever since

Wow, hate to hear that when was the last time you played?

Prince never defined himself on one single instrument.

He defined the instruments to him and his needs.

He WAS music .

also, to me, he always seemed to have his own kind of rhythm on piano, I like his piano versions more sometimes than the hit versions of his songs. I wanna be your lover on piano shows his rhythmic sense better than any other. It took me forever to get a similar feel but when I did, people love it.

AVENUEMAN said:

jazzvirtuoso said:

lostangel078 said: Well as far as jazz pianist go (to my knowledge) he was influenced by people like Bill Evans, Duke Ellington and Oscar Peterson. He would attend Oscar's shows in Canada. If you haven't ever listened to Oscar Peterson you are in for a treat he was the greatest jazz pianist that ever lived. And yes even better than Art Tatum! As much as I love prince I'm not comfortable comparing him to guys like Elton John or Billy Joel. Little Richard maybe. But, I know for a fact that Stevie Wonder would rip Prince a new asshole on keys and I'm pretty sure Prince recognized this too, or at least I suspect he did. I mean and I hate to say it but size and strength does account for alot like in sports, same thing for piano (here come the critics). Oscar Peterson- 6'3, Rachmanioff 6'6, Stevie Wonders 6'0, Prince 5'3?? Elton John 5'8, Billy Joel 5'5. The first three had super hand spans and could cover more distance quicker. Steph curry vs Lebron James who would make it to the goal faster? To be fair, I suspect that Prince had some unusual anatomy issues ah no not that part . I just always suspected by listening to his voicings and watching his hands that he had a hand span larger than normal for someone of his height. If someone can affirm whether this is true or not I'd appreciate it. And look at Stevie Wonders hand span, speed, articulation, abilty to swing, experience and ears. I think that he had Prince in all these areas! In fact I'd say Stevie Wonder tops all of the great R&B pianists and most of the rock ones too, ditto for Elton John and Billy Joel. I make that assessment based on my experince and knowledge. I'm a jazz pianist and I've studied all the greats in jazz. And although I'm not a classical pianist I've studied all the greats in that genre too! I've played nearly all my life starting from childhood. But what I always wanted from Prince and never got was a REAL jazz piano album playing nothing but jazz standards and yes he was very capable of it, even Stevie addmited that. But the mods will not allow me to post anything that supports my views and for me to post these kinds of prince materials would surely get me banned!!

I agree with your assessment of the late Oscar Peterson. He's my absolute favorite piano player of all time, I'd also say that he was the greatest jazz pianist that ever lived. I'm a jazz guitarist that's been highly influenced by Oscar and jazz organist Jimmy Smith. As a guitarist, I've always listened to pianists, horn players, bassists, as well as guitarists for inspiration and influence. Being a huge fan of Peterson's phrasing & comping, I could hear similiar things in the playing of PRN. Another one of my favorite jazz players would be The Count. He may not have been as technically proficient as some of the other greats but his comping was to die for, to me at least. I've flown off of the deep end with my commenting.

NO -- keep going, you don't realize some of us crave your insight after weeks of conspiracy theories and lunar charts!

also, many of the great pianists do not sing along with the song. That's very difficult in and of itself. Nat King Cole was a monster, his skills get so dismissed because he made his name off his pop songs.