Post for Prince

Prince passed away recently and I thought I would take some time to talk about his impact as a guitar player (considering this is a guitar class).

He was often overlooked for his guitar playing because of his showmanship and flashy image.

This clip form the 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony celebrating George Harrison of the Beatles gives you a glimpse at his virtuosity and power as a player.

The great guitarist Eric Clapton was once asked, "What's it like to be the best guitarist in the world?" To which he is reported to have replied, "I don't know, you should go ask Prince." He was so well respected and revered by legions of guitar players. I urge you to go seek out his music (which can be difficult because his music is not streamed.)

In class we combined work on bar chords with his 80's anthem "Purple Rain." I apologize for the shoddy notation, I wanted to get this up and out as quickly as possible. Out of respect, I will probably update this post with a short tutorial video and cleaned up notation.

You can use simple downstrokes to play this song (each slash represents a downstroke). Or you can use the rock ballad strum (which we will detail in a future class).

The shapes are tricky for the beginning guitarist, but the good news is that thought there are only 3 different shapes. Watch that you are putting the chords in the proper fret!