Prince is one of my favorite musicians and biggest musical influences. He taught me how to sing runs, how to put funk in my rock, how to sing with attitude and how to be exactly who I want to be on stage. He was a beautiful musician and there is so much we can learn from him.
What Can We Learn From Prince As Singers?
1.) Practice Your Craft
Obviously, Prince had an incredible amount of God-given talent. He was a virtuosic multi-instrumentalist with a 5 octave vocal range. He was also a composer, producer and an amazing performer. But even with all that natural talent, Prince practiced his craft. He dedicated thousands of hours to practicing music. That’s how he became the unparalleled musician that he was.
Prince on honing your craft as a musician-
“See, a lot of cats don’t work on their rhythm enough, and if you don’t have rhythm, you might as well take up needlepoint or something. I can’t stress it enough. The next thing is pitch. That’s universal—you’re either in tune or you ain’t [laughs]. When you get these things down, then you can learn how to solo. Guitarists should listen to singers for solo ideas—especially women singers. Women haven’t had a chance to run the world yet, so you still hear the blues in their singing. Try to play one of the runs that Beyoncé or Ella Fitzgerald does and you will surely learn something.” -Prince
Rhythm and pitch are music fundamentals. These tutorials will help you improve your ear, pitch and vocal control-
The Solfege Scale- Exercises For Singers
Train Your Ear With Solfege Syllables
Jazz Ear Training Exercises For Singers
2.) Work That Stage
I had the great pleasure of seeing Prince perform in 2002. He played for 3 hrs straight. There were 5 costume changes- each outfit had a matching guitar. Or rather, each guitar had a matching outfit.
He danced, he sang, he climbed on top of the monitors and took virtuosic 20 minute guitar solos.
Most importantly, he connected with the audience. He was sharing something personal and awesome with us- his talent.
Now, not every singer needs to dance around like Tina Turner or Prince. A jazz or folk singer, for instance, probably isn’t going to be doing a lot of running around the stage. It’s about giving all of your energy and musical gifts to the audience and connecting with them.
I’ve seen plenty of really good singers who looked down or kept their eyes closed during a performance. It’s harder to connect with someone who seems withdrawn.
Tip- When you perform, look around the audience and make eye contact with them. Draw them into you.
Check out Prince in this video doing his thing in the ’80’s-
3.)Express Yourself Without Fear
Prince was unapologetic in his individuality. He had incredible confidence in himself and his art. Making music is a vulnerable thing. Singing is a vulnerable thing. You have to put yourself out there and subject yourself to criticism. The key is to let the negative stuff roll off you. Don’t bring it inside yourself.
Some words of wisdom from the man himself-
“Despite everything, no one can dictate who you are to other people” -Prince
“I don’t really care so much about what people say about me because it usually is a reflection of who they are” -Prince
I recorded this little video in my car, not long after I heard of Prince’s death. It’s a small celebration of all the joy & inspiration his music has given me.
What’s your favorite Prince song or moment? Leave it in the comment section below!
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