i noticed a thread from a while back with a debate over the number of instruments prince plays, with one poster asserting that he really only plays around 5 instruments, i.e.:

--guitar
--bass
--drums
--keyboards
--percussion

the number of instruments he's *claimed* to play is somewhere between 20-30, so obviously there's a big dif between what he's claimed and what some people believe.

personally, i think it's somewhere in between... in my opinion, piano, B3 organ, clavinet, synth, and even say a rhodes piano are different enough in technique, approach, feel, and application to qualify as more than just *one* instrument, the keyboard.

now if prince just, say. farted around on the B3 like a rookie, i could see the argument that he really doesn't know how to play it for real, but the guy is great on all those keyboard instruments listed above. not genius level, but great.

bearing that in mind, i'd say it's safe to say he plays more than just 5 instruments... 20-30 might be pushing it, but i think if we thought about it, we could come up with 15 or so that require enough separate mastery to qualify as learning a "new" instrument.

Not the most original thread it has to be said, but I'll address it all the same.

Electric guitar.
Acoustic guitar.
Bass.
Drums.
Piano.
Organ.
Percussion.
Harmonica (ish)

This is the most I think u could give him. Has he played steel drums? I'd count piano and organ as differing enough in technique, and perhaps the two guitar types (pushing it), but I don't think u can add synth or Rhodes as two others separate to piano. Ain't nobody who can play the piano well going to have any trouble at all playing synths. Doesn't work the other way round though of course.

Has Prince ever played any middle-eastern or African instruments on those faux-mystical exotic parts of some tracks? I'm thinking the whole BS surrounding the Symbol album and all that Egyptian nonsense.

It depends on what you consider a instrument is.
I mean. First at all, I agree with you about keyboards, it's not the same to play a gran piando than a Hammond organ, so it's true that Prince can play some different kind of keyboards, and we have to count more than instrument. For some people that is not that way, they think: "no no, keys are keys, it's only one". Another opinion.
About guitar, for me, as a guitarist, it's not exactly the same to play electric guitar than acoustic guitar, for me Prince plays 2 instruments, and he is a very better electric guitarist than acoustic guitarist.

And well. Apart from that, everything is relative. I mean, a tambourine is an instrument and Prince has played it a lot of times. Do you count that or do you think "oh well, everyone can play that so it doesn't count"? He has played a lot of other percussion instruments like congas, bongos, water drums. If you count them like "percussion" is only one, if you count each one like one different one, then you'll see how Prince claims he plays 30 instruments.
And more, as I know Prince played once harmonica, so there you have one more. And there are some controversy about if he has played sax or not (of course in an average to poor level): Eric Leeds said that Prince cannot play sax, but Candy Dulfer said she heard a tape where Prince played sax. Does it count or not?

fauxnewbie said:

What you think about Fender is realative: to play is only to put your hands on an instrument? I mean, do you play electric guitar for example only because you know 3 chords or you play it when you at least can play a lot of chords and some scales? Not sure.

About the exotic instruments, I'm afraid there wasn't samples, like the flute in "The Question Of U", but I REALLY WISH he had played by himself. It's one of the things I liked most.
Prince is supposed to have played steel drums, so there you've got another one. And woodblocks, claves, and a lot of minor percussion.

JavierAlcalde said:

I'm saying I don't count electric piano as separate to piano. I think organ is more of a deviation from standard acoustic piano playing. To play a Rhodes is not a huge leap from playing a Steinway.

fauxnewbie said:

piano and rhodes i'll give you as being arguably too similar to count as two separate... but i'll stand by my assertion that synth is quite different from piano, B3, and clav.

just like a guitar player is partially judged on his tone and sound, a synth player is judged on his choice of sounds/patches as well as the ability to draw "life" out of the instrument. the technique or programming and playing a synth is vastly different than that of a piano. things like an expression/modulation/vibrato switch don't even exist on a piano and the use of a synth as a lead instrument (as prince does so often) is an art and technique all in itself.

in fact, it's arguably *the* most important element in the "minneapolis sound," which of course is completely unachievable with an acoustic or electric piano.

lakerlaker52 said:

Monk used to 'bend' notes on the piano. He could easily have picked up playing synth.

I'm still not going for this one. It's not so hard to pick up all the extra stuff that comes with playing the synth with expression if ur already extremely skilled as a pianist.

Piano, organ - different enough. Using your feet see?

Clav, Rhodes, synths - throw them all in with piano.