how good is prince? can my musician friends on the org tell me what they think of him. please rate him 1 to 5 on each instrument that he plays.
...5- best there is...
...4- one of the best...
...3- accomplished...
...2- average...
...1- poor...
ok here goes:

guitar..lead
guitar..rhythm
bass
drums
keyboard.

This is certain to be pointlessly argued, but MY OPINION is as follows:

guitar..lead - 4
guitar..rhythm - 4
bass - 3
drums - 3
keyboard - 3
vocal - 3
Handclapzandfingasnapz - 5

Overall musicianship rating I would give a fantastic 5

Lead guitar - 4
Rhythm guitar - 5
Bass - 4
Drums - 5
Keys - 5

no offence, but are you a musician...?

i find it laughable that anyone would score him as the best lead guitarist there is OR one of the best bass players... jesus, surely having had ONE of the most INFLUENTIAL bass players ever in his band (Larry G) would've shown you that prince, although as fonky as hell is not one of the greats...

c'mon. this is just silly.

...surely having had ONE of the most INFLUENTIAL bass players ever in his band (Larry G) would've shown you that prince, fonky as hell IS one of the greats...

c'mon. this is just silly.- yes it is;)

Prince is definitely a fantastic guitarist - inventive and daring. As far as other instruments go, he may not be the world's best (PS-is there such a thing really?!), but it's the soul he puts into his playing which impresses the most.

And I love everything I hear, so I'd say he's the BOMB!

CynthiasSocks said:

So, am i reading you right. Prince is one of the Great bass Players... as in one of the greats that ever existed...?

are you on crack..? can you let me know of some bass performances that i've missed. i'd love to hear 'em.

my little brother is in a band and plays bass. he's great. they are a rap / rock / funk group. he sounds like Flea. but i wouldn't call my bro 'one of the greats'... as much as he'd like me to.

guitar..lead 4
guitar..rhythm 4
bass 3
drums 3
keyboard 4

guitar..lead = 4
guitar..rhythm = 4
bass = 4
drums = 3
keyboard = 4
vocals = 5

if 5 means without equal then 4 for most things really. but vocals...i guess alot of people id say are "without peer" as contradictory as that seems. its all relative anyway! but for bass, well its not all about speed is it and who says he cant play fast. but the bass for sign o the times and if i was your girlfriend are good enough for me!

Well all I know is that he's not showing much skill anymore these days.

savoirfaire said:

3 for vocals is low my friend

well i am a musician, i'm a keyboard player and there is this idea amongst musicians (at least pop musicians anyway) that Prince is a prodigy, a genius, etc, blah, blah, blah. he is my favourite guitar player altho i have learned now that he does repeat himself occasionally when he plays guitar. for example, at the end of that live video with Nikka Costa we does this squeally thing on the guitar and then he does this fast run down. he does that on loads of other songs pretty much to the note. the best example i can think of right now is on I Will from C&D. he does the exact same thing at the end.
most of his guitar solos begin with him holding down a note or two for a few seconds and then he will blast off into outer space when he's cookin'. perfect example again is that Nikka Costa video.
as for his keyboard work, i'm not a big fan. too staccato all the time but he has a knack for the medley thing and he can sugue really well. his bass playing i can tell can be great but he never lets loose enuff on record. live tho he has proved he can rock. on drums it's the same thing but when he sings that's where the man is a qualified, bonafide genius. perfect example is Solo from Come. man if that ain't heaven sent than you can kiss my ass if you think otherwise.
here's me two cents:
guitar - 4.75
bass - 4
keys - 3
drums - 3
vocals - 8
accordian player - 1

since we are on the subject, he likes to use complex chords as well. check out the sheet music to Parade. on paper it also looks like art. bless him.

oh and rhythm - 5, baby. gimme the fonky face any day.

4.0 all round.

Jack of all trades, master of none.

just my opinion.
[This message was edited Fri May 30 4:08:34 PDT 2003 by Marrk]

EvilWhiteMale said:

Alright, you might not like the music, your right, but you surely cannot deny that on a strictly "technical" level, he shows some very strong playing especially on guitar nowadays.

On a strictly technical level - well, if you compare him to other "pop" acts, then yes, he is well ahead of the pack.

Compare him to the best musicians in their field then, no, he doesn't quite cut the mustard.

As an all round artist/musician/composer/producer, the only person to hold a light to him was Frank Zappa - right now, he is un-equalled in those respects combined. But, isolate any one of those talents and you will find people that compare and surpass.

NME is completely right - some of y'all need to get out of the "pop" isolation and get your ears around musicians who make music because they want to make music. You are comparing Prince to a load of marketed bullshit. He is a great artist, and better than a lot of people on a variety of instruments, but he does not lead the field in any one area.
[This message was edited Thu May 29 16:11:22 PDT 2003 by Mindflux]
[This message was edited Thu May 29 16:11:44 PDT 2003 by Mindflux]

EvilWhiteMale said:

yeah the more he plays the worse he gets, practice does not make perfect...

NME said:

Okay,I am not an asskisser or one of those "fam"people,or drinking purple kool-aid or whatever,BUT I'm really getting tired of this,when this man leaves this planet (and you know what I mean by that) people BETTER be saying that "HE WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST MUSICIANS,EVER!!!"
It doesn't make any sense that he would be working his butt off playing various instruments since he was a kid,and end up just mediocre!
I'm not a guitar solo freak,but I know his playing on songs like I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man,The Question Of U,It,Alexa De Paris,and various other songs takes my breath away.
Nothing on Madhouse 8,or Prince,or Controversy or 1999,or Sign O The Times or even The Time albums sounds like it comes from a mediocre,or average musician.
Why call someone a "musical genius" over and over again,if there's nothing that sets him apart from the rest?
According to you so-called experts,he's not a great guitarist,or a great drummer,or a great keyboardist or a great bassist,so what the fuck is he then,oh wise one?
And I prefer Bootsy Collins to Larry Graham,so there!


"Take away the clothes and the image,and you're left with a FANTASTIC musician" -Eric Leeds

My opinion:

guitar..lead 5
guitar..rhythm 4
bass 3
drums 2
keyboard 2

He's a truly great guitarist. He's an adequate pianist / keyboardist. He is okay on bass, he can slap a bit but he can't hold it down like Larry Graham. On drums he seems average.

The good thing about Prince is that he recognises his abilities and weaknesses and surrounds himself with great talent to complement his own strengths.

sorry folks - but now i really get upset.
where are we? is this a fu+++ng school?
have we come that far?
you give grades for prince`s skills in playing instruments?
i say you better get your own shit together before you start doing this, don`t you think?
really - my brain is melting.

terrible.
really terrible.
and now :

go. get a life and
listen and practice.

unbelievable.

ian said:

I'm not doing this rating system and I ain't gonna clown anybody for their choices but I gotta give you props (not cuz your the moderator Note: just a joke) but rating him higher on the guitar than the drums makes sense to me . I mean ole boy plays drums but guitar seems more like his 4tay!

TonyWilliams said:

Chill out, it's just a bit of fun. If you don't like it you don't need to participate.

Anyway it can bring some interesting opinions to light... for me, the appeal of Prince's music was always his lead guitar style, which I love to bits and as a fairly accomplished guitarist myself, he never ceases to "wow" me. He just makes it all seem so easy

pejman said:

Cheers mate! I'd say Prince himself would probably first and foremost want to be known for his guitar skills. In fact I think I read that he said in an interview once. He certainly has a lot of respect from other guitarists.

JAMIESTARR said:

Actually, it's high. I absolutely adore his voice and vocal stylings, but he doesn't have the range of classically trained opera singers. He's ACCOMPLISHED, but he's not one of the best.

I think the level of "accomplished" is a very high level.

guitar..lead - 4
guitar..rhythm - 4.5
bass - 3
drums - 1.5
keyboard - 4
vocal - 4.5



.
[This message was edited Thu May 29 17:51:47 PDT 2003 by lovemachine]

gypsyfire said:

I'm not hatin' on him. he IS one of the Greats. and he is a GREAT musician, but IMO it's as a whole. he can play everything well. he can write, produce, arrange, etc. He's a one man music machine.

that's his genuis, not his skill on any one instrument.
[This message was edited Fri May 30 1:09:34 PDT 2003 by NME]

This is fun!

guitar..lead 4
guitar..rhythm 5
bass 3
drums 3
keyboard.3

His power over music is totally amazing. He is one of the best multi-instrumentists in the world. By the way that's what Maceo or Lenny said lately about him.

Who else in the world can :
- be so good at so many instruments and so versatile.
+
- be a fantastic producer/arranger who masters the new technologies.
+
- be such a great entertainer on stage.

Prince has been blessed by god with so many talents.

Who was there in London when he took his bass during the rehearsals to do some sly stuff. Who was there knows that was one of the funkiest thing ever. Who was in Belgium back in 1995 at the forest national to see Prince on the rythm guitar being at his top. I was two yards away from him and we were all totally blown away by those magical fingers playing those chords.

No he is not the best drumer or bass player but that's his overall skilss that are totally amazing and scary. That's why he can go to any musical direction he wants to.

savoirfaire said:

high???


arent those all minuses??


2 low

gypsyfire said: