Chords for That time when PRINCE went ALL OUT

When you think of great guitarists, you think [Bm] of Jimi Hendrix, Jungle Reinhardt, Chad [Em] Hedkins and [A] many others.
But you probably do not [Bm] necessarily think of Prince, [Em] right?
And that could be a mistake, because when Prince [D] was in the zone, [Em] he could play some badass guitar.
[C] _ _ _
_ [E] _ _ _ _ [Am] _ _ _
_ _ [C] _ _ _ _ [F#] _ _
_ [F] _ _ _ _ [Am] _ _ _
_ [G] _ _ _ _ [D] _ _ _
_ _ [Em] _ _ _ _ [Am] _ _
_ _ [C] _ _ _ _ [D] _ _
_ _ [F] _ _ _ _ [Am] _ _
_ _ [G] _ _ _ _ [C] _ _
_ _ [E] _ _ _ _ [Am] _ _
_ _ [C] _ _ _ _ [D] _ _
_ _ [F] _ _ _ _ [Am] _ _
_ _ [G] _ _ _ _ [D] _ _
_ _ [E] _ _ _ _ [Am] _
Prince playing the lead [Em] guitar solo on While My Guitar [F#] Gently Weeps.
What an [F] amazing guitar solo, beautifully done.
[Am] Now let's take a look at the best [G] moments of the [C] solo and see if we can learn a thing or [Am] two.
_ _ _ _ [G] _ _
_ _ [D] _ _ _ _ [F] _ _
_ _ [Am] _ _ _ _ _ [G] _
_ _ _ [D] _ _ _ _ _
The song is in the key of A minor [G#] and most people would start by
improvising over the minor pentatonic scale, right?
_ _ _ _ _ _ [Em] _ _
_ [E] _ Prince is using a scale 2, but he starts off a lot higher on the fretboard.
[Em] _ _ _
_ [D] _ _ _ And [E] the way he starts off with those long wailing notes, _
_ [A] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [E] _ _ _ _ that's a confident beginning, very much like Jimi Hendrix indeed.
And it's not just a matter of playing the notes, notes are relatively easy. _
_ [D] _ _ _ _ You need to attack the notes very aggressively, play loud and with lots of conviction.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ Beautiful. _
_ _ [E] _ _ _ _ [Am] _ _
_ _ [C] _ _ _ _ [F#] _ _
_ _ [F] _ _ _ _ [Am] _ _
[D] That's quite a nasty note to play on that A minor.
[G] And _ _ _ [E] _ that's something he does throughout the entire solo, leaving the minor pentatonic scale
and just listening to the chords in the background and improvising [D] something interesting on [Am] the spot.
_ _ _ _ [G] _ _
_ _ [C] _ _ _ _ [E] _ _
_ _ [Am] _ _ _ _ [C] _ _
_ _ [F#] What a _ [F] _ _
_ _ [Am] _ _ _ _ [G#] _ _
_ [C#] beautiful moment.
This is so good.
He starts off with a very regular blues type of thing, _ _
something we [D#] heard before, playing it a bit faster. _ _
_ [Em] _ You would expect him to go back to something like this, _ _ _ _ [A] _ _
back to the root note.
But instead he [E] comes up with something unique, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ which no one would have expected.
It's one thing to play this with a regular technique, _ _ _
_ [A] _ but take a look at how Prince is playing [F#] it.
_ _ _ _ _ [F] _ _ _
_ Being able to improvise something like this on the spot,
while [Am] also at the same time making it look cool.
_ There was only one _ Prince. _
_ _ [G] _ _ _ _ [D] _ _
_ _ [Em] _ _ _ _ [Am] _ _
_ _ [C] _ _ _ _ _ [D] _
_ _ _ [F] _ _ _ _ [Am] _
Soon where he flies_
[F#] Very, very, very Jimi Hendrix like.
And what's impressive here is his vibrato.
Prince has a magnificent vibrato. _ _
_ _ [A] _ _ _ _ And all the while he's also aware of the chords that are playing in the background.
Now the chords go downwards in this song, _
_ _ [G] _ _ [A] _ _ [D] _ _
_ [C] _ all the way down to the F chord.
And Prince, being a great musician, instinctively wants his melody to go into the other direction.
So when the chords are at their [F] lowest,
_ [Am] note that Prince is playing _ [E] _ _
at the [G] highest.
That's [E] what's called contrary motion.
When the melody goes in the opposite direction of the chords and the bass, that always works. _
When they go low, you go high. _ _
_ _ [Am] _ _ _ _ [C] _ _
_ _ [E] _ _ _ _ [F] _ _
_ _ [Am] _ _ _ _ [G] _ _
_ _ [D] _ _ _ _ [E] _ _
_ _ [Am] _ _ _ _ _ [C] _
_ _ [F#] _ _ _ _ [B] _
I can imagine it being quite nerve-wracking when you try and do something like that.
Whether there's actually someone there to hold you.
It'd be pity if Prince just fell on the floor and that was [F#] the end of the guitar solo.
_ _ _ _ [C] What he's [E] playing is to _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [G] _ play fast.
And the great thing is you don't need to be very precise.
Prince is not shredding with absolute precision here.
It's all about the feel.
And it doesn't really matter if some notes are a bit messy or if it's a bit choppy. _
_ _ [Em] _ _ _ [F] _ It's all about the feel.
_ _ _ [Am] _ _
_ _ [G] _ _ _ _ [C] _ _
_ _ [E] _ _ _ _ [Am] _ _
_ _ [C] _ _ _ _ [D] _ _
_ [F] _ _ _ _ _ [Am] _ _
_ _ [G] _ _ _ [F#] _ That's actually quite fast.
_ Here again, he leaves the minor pentatonic scale, not stuck in his little box here.
_ [G] _
And [E] repetition.
And now he just goes on and on and on and plays those three little notes a zillion times. _ _ _
_ _ _ Quite difficult.
And if that wasn't enough, he starts to play even faster and more wild and outrageous.
_ [F] _ _ _ _ [Am] _ _ _
_ [G] _ _ _ _ [D] _ _ _
_ [E] _ _ _ _ [A] _ _
Man, [Gm] what is he playing there?
I think something like_
Let's do it first slow. Something like_
[E] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ When you play something like that fast, _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [Dm] _ _ _ [G] something like that_
Not easy to [A#] play at all.
And [C] even harder to improvise it on the spot while also [Gm] entertaining the audience.
_ We can all agree upon, I think, that after listening to this guitar solo,
[C] Prince _ [F] was one hell [Gm] of a guitarist.
Now, if you want to play the guitar [C] solo,
don't forget that the tabs are available on my Patreon [F] site.
So be sure [Gm] to take a look.
And I [A#] will see you_
[F] _
_ [C] _ _ _ _ _ [A#] _ _
_ Don't think, _ feel.
_ [N] _