Riff Rundown

Difficulty: Intermediate

Composer - Prince and The New Revolution

Where to find this song - Purple Rain track # 9

Release Date - August 1984

The Bio:

Very few artists have created a body of work as cool and varied as Prince. During the '80s, he came up as one of the most prolific talents of the rock & roll era, somehow managing to tie together pop, funk, folk, and rock. Not only did he release a series of groundbreaking albums, he toured frequently, produced albums and wrote songs for many other artists, and recorded hundreds of songs that still lie unreleased in his vaults. With each album he has released, Prince has shown remarkable stylistic growth and musical diversity.

Intro

For the first measure you will be using your 1st finger to barre the first frets on the "B" string and the "high E" string. You should use your 3rd finger to play the third fret on the "G" string. Notice that you will just be working with variations throughout the measure of the same fingerings. When you get to the second fret, you will need to use your 2nd finger to play it on the "G" string.

In the second measure, you should play the third fret on the "G" string with your 2nd finger. The rest is just a matter of timing and picking.

In the third measure you will have quite a stretch on your hands. It should be noted that Prince has rather small hands, and this would have been a giant stretch for him to play as well. You will be playing the first fret on the "low E" string with your 1st finger. You will play the second fret on the "G" string with your 2nd finger. Use your 3rd finger for the third fret on the "A" string, and finally your 4th finger for the fifth fret on the "D" string. Don't forget the mutes at the end of the measure.

For the last measure, barre your 1st finger on the sixth frets of all strings so that you can hit the "high E." Use your 2nd finger for the eighth fret on the "D" string. Use your 3rd finger for the eighth fret on the "B" string. Finally use your 4th finger for the tenth fret on the "G" string. Here you will have to make sure that you arch that finger so not to hit any other strings.

Outro

Guitar 1

The outro isn't too difficult. You will be dealing with the same strings using the same fingers, but just picked out. There are a few hammer-ons in there, but they are pretty easy.

Lead

Riff Resources

Complete Transcription To "Purple Rain" (PDF)

Complete Transcription To "Purple Rain" (Power Tab)