crimesofparis said:

warewolf95 said:

Didn't know that - I've seen a lot of "modern" Prince footage but admittedly not so much of the Purple Rain era and before, and I've never noticed what you mention but that sounds like what it looks like.

I'm bad with URLs from my phone, but here's the quote from page two of the Premier Guitar article. "If you want to see the real magic in Prince’s playing, it’s not his left hand; his picking hand was everything. You’ve got the blues dudes that use their thumb and finger, or the Albert King dudes that use their fingers to really pluck the hell out of the strings and muscle it, but Prince, when he played rhythm, could go from picking to seamlessly hiding that pick between two fingers and doing this form of almost bass slapping that would bring out these funk parts in a way that sounded like double-speed guitar, and it would always blow my mind. He was really great at that, and rhythm work in general."

Never heard any of that before. That is freaking cool. Something for me to keep an eye out for for sure. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

Brownmark's comical flabbing in the general vicinity of bass strings is funny to look at too on repeat viewings. I know he has a peculiar bass plucking/slapping style, but it sure doesn't look like that on actual live videos

The only one who really manages to sync to a believeable degree is Bobby Z, which is funny considering most of the albums drum parts are hybrids of programmed Linn LM-1 patterns and live cymbals.

warewolf95 said:

herb4 said:

You can do the same with your left hand too, can't you? The one working the frets?
I never noticed anything off with the dubs in the PR movie and I've seen it probably 20 times. OP, can you post specific clips you're talking about?

Specifically Computer Blue but also parts of Let's Go Crazy, IIRC.

yeah outside of those two and Purple Rain, they are the only performances he plays the guitar

warewolf95 said:

crimesofparis said:

warewolf95 said: Didn't Wendy recently say something about his playing in an interview where he would keep the pick between the knuckles on his index and middle fingers and use his thumb to pluck? I haven't watched his right hand much but that sounds like it could be what you're describing.

Didn't know that - I've seen a lot of "modern" Prince footage but admittedly not so much of the Purple Rain era and before, and I've never noticed what you mention but that sounds like what it looks like.

I forget exactly where it is in the show, but in the La Caruna, Spain Nude Tour performance there is a solo where Prince rolls the pick from knuckles to thumb/finger. It's very cool.
.

[Edited 12/27/17 8:11am]

I do not know. I think that Prince would not had fudge onn playing the guitar in the movie Purple Rain. Now I am going to have to rewatch that scene that your are talking about. Really look hard at what Prince is doing.

he did WHAT? sorry I must have been distracted by something since 1984 I dunno

warewolf95 said:

crimesofparis said:

warewolf95 said: I'm bad with URLs from my phone, but here's the quote from page two of the Premier Guitar article. "If you want to see the real magic in Prince’s playing, it’s not his left hand; his picking hand was everything. You’ve got the blues dudes that use their thumb and finger, or the Albert King dudes that use their fingers to really pluck the hell out of the strings and muscle it, but Prince, when he played rhythm, could go from picking to seamlessly hiding that pick between two fingers and doing this form of almost bass slapping that would bring out these funk parts in a way that sounded like double-speed guitar, and it would always blow my mind. He was really great at that, and rhythm work in general."

Never heard any of that before. That is freaking cool. Something for me to keep an eye out for for sure. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

You'll see exactly what Wendy was talking about with his right hand at the 3:53 mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jKSdU40W6E

OperatingThetan said:

LovesexyIsThe1 said:

warewolf95 said:

Never heard any of that before. That is freaking cool. Something for me to keep an eye out for for sure. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

You'll see exactly what Wendy was talking about with his right hand at the 3:53 mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jKSdU40W6E

That is it and that is AWESOME. Thanks for posting!

RodeoSchro said:

LovesexyIsThe1 said:

You'll see exactly what Wendy was talking about with his right hand at the 3:53 mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jKSdU40W6E

That is it and that is AWESOME. Thanks for posting!

Watching and listen carefully...he is plucking strings with the hidden pick and with his thumb.

[Edited 12/27/17 16:09pm]

LovesexyIsThe1 said:

RodeoSchro said:

That is it and that is AWESOME. Thanks for posting!

Watching and listen carefully...he is plucking strings with the hidden pick and with his thumb.

[Edited 12/27/17 16:09pm]

controversy99 said:

OperatingThetan said:

Prince always mimed like he was miming and couldn't be bothered to even try to convince you otherwise. It's the kind of arrogance/playfulness I happen to be particularly fond of. Whatever, he knew he had the goods live in concert and always delivered. [Edited 12/27/17 7:17am]

Yep, Prince’s mimed guitar is often not even close to how it would actually be played. This is so obvious if you watch enough Prince videos that I’m not sure what the people denying it are trying to prove. Prince is my favorite artist, but I see no reason to defend his miming. Why bother. Computer Blue is actually pretty good mime, imo. But the other songs where he mimes an instrument are rough. The vocal mining is pretty good. Why is it bad? That we may never know. I think he wanted the guitar parts to look even cooler than they would if he played it straight. But it kind of backfires.

I don't think anyone's in any sort of staunch denial camp so much as maybe most of us (like me) don't know how to play so we're unsure what we're looking at and just never caught it or thought it stood out. It never stood out to me.

It's not a defensive stance though is my point. At least nothing I've read. And for what it's worth, I actually always thought that the performances WERE live, just bnot synced with that particular recording. Guess I was wrong

herb4 said:

eyewishuheaven said:

controversy99 said:

herb4 said:

I know exactly what you're talking about, and I'm convinced he was having a laugh. Check the up/down part of Let's Go Crazy: he's strumming the strings with just his index finger!

Having a laugh just doesn’t seem right to me when he was working so hard on this film. . I think he (a) didn’t realize how goofy it would look and/or (b) was trying to make it look extra cool but backfired. . Btw, the worst miming he’s done has to be the acoustic guitar in Sign o the Times movie. Yikes. The musical performances are so great in Sign o the Times that it’s too bad the original footage from the concerts didn’t work out.

I agree with that one. Maybe 'having a laugh' wasn't the best choice of words, but... yeah, trying to look extra cool fits the bill. But it backfires because us guitar players notice it's wrong, and non-guitar players aren't even paying attention!

bonatoc said:

You gotta love the way he bended like, 3 chords at once, downwards.
I was so "right on, man", when I read in an interview,
when asked about his guitar chops, he replied he tried his best through the years to go after an original playing style.

Listening by pure chance to "She Gave Her Angels" and coming near the end,
a whole book has to be written about Prince the Guitarist only.




Going back to the left, pay attention to how fast he can switch his guitar pick-ups
or adjust his frequency knobs. He's damn fast, it's like magic.
Hours after hours after hours on the axe, workin'it.

SKipper is a God on the Telecaster. And the Telecaster is the meanest guitar of the pack,
it forces you to play right. Can't lie to a Tele.
"Controversy" is a fine... Aww, don't start me on it.
Here comes "The Ride".

Thanks...good insight. And hey....love that picture with it. Never saw that one before.

RodeoSchro said:

warewolf95 said:

Didn't know that - I've seen a lot of "modern" Prince footage but admittedly not so much of the Purple Rain era and before, and I've never noticed what you mention but that sounds like what it looks like.

I forget exactly where it is in the show, but in the La Caruna, Spain Nude Tour performance there is a solo where Prince rolls the pick from knuckles to thumb/finger. It's very cool.
.

[Edited 12/27/17 8:11am]

I will have to go back and rewatch it and check that out.

Never have I ever noticed Prince's HANDS during Computer Blue.

More awful is that dude with the red guitar in the Modernaires, that shit is hilarious.

Adorecream said:

More awful is that dude with the red guitar in the Modernaires, that shit is hilarious.

I seem to remember him miming pretty damn well during the Purple Rain performance in the film? Like, more than he really had to. I'll have to go rewatch I guess

[Edited 1/2/18 5:32am]