True Story: It took me four times to make this video. First three had technical issues and had to be tossed. It wasn't until the fourth time that I decided to wear my jacket. I use it in my Heart tribute but it has a bit of a Prince vibe. No issues this time. Pretty sure Prince was like, "I ain't letting it through until he puts on something classier than just a t-shirt. 🤣 He sure made me work for this one. ☂☔

Those opening chords to purple rain are ethereal

I can barely play it while practicing at home. Massive props to Wendy at 19 y/o for having to play it live repeatedly for up to 10 minutes while Prince did a costume change. Legendary stuff.

Prince has said that the intro to Purple Rain was ALL her. Said she came into rehearsal with that iconic, ‘unicorn’ of a chordal progression worked out and ready to go! He saw & _knew_ that her musical vision matched what his lyrics were trying to convey. They were a ‘perfect storm’ together.

Massive respect to Wendy. She played those killer chords while live performing at 18ish age !

Having done this live many times, those articulations in Level Seven are vital for changing chords smoothly. Wendy is amazing.

Wendy is such an underappreciated musician, songwriter, singer and performer. Always loved her work. Cheers for this insight. Already crying at the thought of the Andy Summers like finger stretches!

I love heavy/thrash/death/black and any other metal you can think of but on my very humble opinion Purple Rain is the greatest song ever written. It makes me FEEL things and the intro makes the hairs stand up on my neck every time. Glorious.

I think Prince would definitely approve of that cool jacket. Saw him in concert 3 nights in a row as a teen, New Years Eve/Day 1984. I've seen hundreds of concerts and he was just beyond any I've seen to date. The Revolution are truly accomplished musicians, as well. Awesome video! Something for everyone~

I was staying in a Double Tree in Minneapolis & wondered down to a bar, where a jazz trio/quartet was Going Off around ‘99. I still know nothing about Jazz’s history & heroes, but I knew I loved the performance & chatted with the guitar player on their break. I wanted to tell him that I loved his guitar tone & playing. it was an old old old Gibson arch-top something & he introduced me to the guy I was sidled up next to at the bar, who came to watch his gig. it was John Blackwell. I was 21 yrs old & those guys were extreme cool to me. they were introducing me as a musician from ATL & invited me for a late dinner after the gig. we talked gear & ridiculous gig scenarios and stories. it was a rad time

As a die hard metal fan (also from Minneapolis) back when Purple Rain came out, I wanted to hate this song. But after a couple listens and some amazing guitar work on this and other songs from the album, I had to concede that this is one of the most talented songwriters I had ever encountered. Prince had a bit of everything, sex appeal, blistering solos, universal emotion, fun onstage, amazing chops, and hometown pride. Thank you for this breakdown (I was a bassist) and for guiding us forward in understanding and appreciation of a legendary song.

This is the single best tutorial for this song I've ever seen! 7 tutorials in one. Well done!

Massive respect. There's so much room for expressive bits of style and flourish with guitar.

I haven't heard "Purple Rain" with so many dynamics. I've heard this song MANY times, and it always gives me chills. Hearing it broken down....brings another respect for how musicians can keep his music inspirational, educational, and his spirit alive. That's so awesome Mike! 🤘♀️

"The next chord might give you nightmares for a while." So deadpan and matter of fact literally made me lol. 😂

This is a chord progression that you can just not get sick of hearing or playing for that matter - so beautiful, melancholic and ethereal. Hats off mate, brilliant job - those finger stretches are killer!

That chorus pedal sounds amazing

It’s crazy how Wendy came up with that purple chord progression at such a young age,it’s amazing,such talent

Love this whole album, it’s a masterpiece

Great lesson. The chorus, chord voicings and subtle little notes give it a surreal vibe to an otherwise standard 1 6 5 4 chord progression. I like how you taught it.

This is one of those songs that is so iconic, you can recognize it from the very first chord.

MAD RESPECT. Thank you so much, Mike and Wendy! I can't yet pull off level 5 and 6 chords, but level 4 is still absolutely magical for me with the capo. SO appreciate your putting this together.

Level 4 is the highest for mere mortals. Prince was such a musical genius. So glad he shared his music with us.

Perfect video. I've been obsessed with learning those true Purple Rain chords ever since I bought my guitar, but never understood those chord transitions until now. Especially that 3rd to 4th chord transition. I know I'm gonna have to give this a go!

WENDY BREAKS DOWN HER MOST ICONIC GUITAR PARTS is the name of the vid. At about 9:30 she starts it. If you're old enough to have seen it when it came out and during his Little Red Corvette/Party 1999 and when he was a monster on Mtv, the instant she strums that first thumb over chord and the chorus is just dripping off, it takes you back about 35 years. Pretty amazing.

Wow, this is great. I love how it evolves from the very standard chords to the version that opens the heart and mind. It also proves once again, the small details do matter. Even when so many players "teach" songs on YT while ignoring the important details and think they are cool players 🙈 So, thanks for demonstrating what good guitar playing sounds like. 🥰

You've got it going on. Just want to compliment you on your presentation your knowledge your attitude your vibe your skill your style. Great job. I'm in my sixties, been playing most of my life and I play professionally. I enjoy your channel more than most. Keep up the great work. You're nailing it.

Thanks so much for doing this one! Always been one of my favorites.

So awesome to see the connection. Thank you.

Between this and that amazing Jack White video from a year or two back you’ve really provided a framework for my entire approach to the guitar. Many thanks!

Yess! This is perfect. One of the best damn intros of all time. It's actually been on my mind lately so I must get and learn it. This song us pretty much the reason that when I get round to buying my first oedal, it's gonna be a chorus. I've loved this song and Prince since I was a kid. I used to take a Prince best of CD with me every day on my paper route after school. Congrats on 810k Subscribers!

You have no idea how long I have been waiting for a good breakdown of the purple rain solo! Can’t wait!

Fantastic mate, one of my favourite videos you have ever done,superb !

it has been and always will be to me the most beautiful chord progression I have ever heard...

I love when great teachers like you show us the hidden gems that are overlooked by the fans of these hits

Briefly said hi at Steve Vai’s concert last year in the winter in Minneapolis. Love your videos and glad to have another fellow Minnesotan represent online 👍

That was so awesome and even though it was instructive, it's still brought sadness at the loss of a true legend😢. That song gets me every time. Many thanks!

Wendy Melvoin is such a great player. She's played on a lot of songs and done a ton of soundtrack work, too.

You're the hero I needed, because all the tutos make the chords progression but without the subtilities in between.

I can't wait to get home and try this. Thank you so much for sharing.

Great video. Will be watched many many times.

Sounds so simple, but a ton of work goes into nailing that properly. Bravo!

Gorgeous melody

this is a brilliant idea for a video and brilliantly done, the song is instantly recognisable from level 1 and just gets more accurate as we go up the levels, fantastic

@TheArtofGuitar Thank you so much for this lesson.

Great lesson! Such a simple sounding progression but so much more complex with the dynamics and nuances Wendy added. I appreciate her that much more. Well done. Subbed!

The opening chords and the solo are the two reasons why I love this song, such a fucking classic

Good lesson ! Same here , was at age of 14 when Purple Rain came out , still remember those moments dearly

Even though I am 63, I emigrate big Prince fan and revolution I'm a left-handed electric guitar player I also play acoustic guitar some. But I decided to start learning the intro and now I want to learn the solo but thank you so much for showing us this intro in your love and affection you had for Prince's obvious and I have my prince jacket too. My wife was looking at your bracelet she makes bracelets that I think I said yeah I bet that's a prince! Lol. Anyway buddy I've been wanting to thank you for a long time now for your lessons and your support and your encouragement you don't know me from Adam I'm just Dennis from Tulsa but I'm here for you if you ever need me Brother. It may not be popular but I grew up with Jehovah's witness like distance Prince. I know those in Minnesota know the story well just as I do hear in Tulsa. Again thank you for this lesson it really touched my heart so that's why I say I'm here for you brother I like your style and you're a damn good little guitar player to Buddy!!! If you want me to I'll send you a tape once I master it. Enjoy the rest of your weekend Buddy. With love from the Dennis Pointer family in Tulsa.

This is like holy guitar ground and I'm a metalhead. Great guitar sound in the video, did the song justice

Awesome ! Always wondered how she is exactly playing it . Great lesson ❤

just perfect analysis, spot on. congrats.

Most excellent lesson, probably one of your best!

Few art forms can choke you up like music. Great instructional video, beautifully played, to one of the greatest of all time, artist and song.

Best video I’ve seen so far. Thank you

Best teaching of this song I’ve ever seen. I’ve tried to study that same video of Wendy playing it and my fingers just couldn’t do it. So I can’t get level 7, but these others make it sound close enough. Well done!!!

Amazing song and one of my favourite albums ever

Man - I watched your video last night, then watched Vertex's video with Wendy going through her pedalboard and playing the intro to Purple Rain. I just spent the last 10 minutes learning how to play it as she originally played it and my left hand wants to fall off. Meanwhile, both you and her play it like it's a walk in the park. I need to start practicing again. Been a few years. Great video, man. Cheers.

Awesome! Sounds great! Thank you for making this video. Now I know a few different ways to play Purple Rain.

As for the first chord: to get around the thumb-over-the-fretboard thing, it's possible to use the pinky for the G string on the third fret. The ring finger can then take over the thumb tasks. Great video as always!

Another awesome video. Best guitar teacher on KZfaq.

Absolutely spot-on. I saw Wendy Melvoin's explanation too, and just to think that she was only 19 at the time that this legendary song was taken a rough sketch to the (live!!!) version we all know and love, is just astounding... And she seemed a genuinely nice and easy-going person too! 😎👍💜

Reportedly after this was written, Prince called up Jonathan Cain of Journey and played it for him, asking if it was too similar to Faithfully. He said although it shares the same chord progression, the rhythm and phrasing was different enough to distinguish it and gave him his blessing.

As a friend told me once, AWESOMEsauce🎉 Keep rocking my friend 🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸

Wendy is an incredible musician.

Great video. Those chords just take me right back to the 80s.

Wow! Level 7 is *JUST* like the recording! Amazing!!!

Great video! Love the chorus. Congratulations!

Level 7 is magical ! Really cool video, thanks a lot for being so clear and helpful.

Excellent and extremely enjoyable vid. Thankyou

Thank you! Woke up today needing to learn this song

Thank you!! Beautiful chords! A proper tribute for such a genius (Prince... and Wendy!) 🥲

Brilliant tutorial for an iconic intro👏👏👏

Can’t Wait To See Who You Bring For The Solo!!

Thank you, thank you thank you! ...finaly found someone who teach me that magnificent song!

Really great job explaining everything!

This really is an excellent video demonstration. Very well done.👍🏼👍🏼

True story. In 1990, I had started playing guitar. First song? Stairway To Heaven. In guitar world. Then a few months later, I picked up another issue. Had this and thunderstruck (think was late 90 or early 91). It had the level seven version in it. Since the song was written on piano, the guitar chords transition to what we know. The REAL trick is, Wendy only plays that F5add9 ONCE at the beginning, and pretty much does a straight F major for the rest. You watch the video/movie, you’ll see it. And you can do like Prince does and Hendrix that chord to do the fills throughout the song. A friend of mine who plays semi professional (he has a day job but gigs a LOT) is a Prince disciple and plays level five. When I showed him how I played it, he goes “no, I’m not going to play eight minutes of barre chords” and showed me the easier way, lol! He knew how to play it level seven, just chose not to. Mostly because of that last Eb shape, which is ridiculous despite that F chord, so even if you drop to F major throughout, and you want to be authentic that Eb will kill you. With it being a clean tone, you can’t hide behind distortion if you mess up, and it’s vital to hit all strings in it to get the lushness of it. So if you good, people will know. In and of itself it’s an easy song as you’ve shown. The complexity comes from the chord fingerings and how authentic you wish to be.

Great video. I really enjoyed it.

Dude. Perfectly timed. I listened to purple rain on my new cassette deck yesterday end to end and I don’t even know it was the anniversary! It’s a sign 🔥

This was awesome, thank you for the breakdown and alternatives. I've also seen the video where Wendy plays the intro have been trying to get it, but thanks to you now i know and understand what she was doing!

Great job, chords sound awesome. 👏👏👏👏

The difference between playing it straight at the lower levels vs. levels 6-7 is that the latter add this amazing wistfulness to the progression. It’s hard to describe, but it has a certain sad and mournful quality to it. In Brazilian music, this often referred to as *saudade*. You don’t even have to be trained to hear the difference. It’s just so intuitive emotionally. Brilliant video!

A few weeks ago I found the Bluray of Purple Rain in a Bargain bin, so I got just because it included ALL of the music video, including from The Time, and a bunch of behind the scenes content. The 5.1 mix was really nice, really brought the sound track to life like it was the first time I was hearing it. The HD wide screen was also really nice, so much more immersive. I was surprised how much we enjoyed watching the film again.

fantastic sound!!! 😲😲😲

Very good explanation...you are so calm teaching

Huge Prince fan, his talent is just mesmerising.

Such a great idea!

What an excellent tutorial!! Many thanks 🤘

It is pure euphoria to play it and it's not too bad but man that final Eflat is a killer....was never able to switch to it fast enough. Thanks for showing a few different ways to play it

Well done..thanks..great breakdown

Fun fact, prince was meant to duet on Michael Jackson's bad but refused after the word butt wasn't removed from the lyrics.

Beatuiful playing man, will go for the level 7 for sure, thanks!

You're the best teacher, thanks

Very very good job, i like this song, thanks a lot.

Man. Great lesson! And you played it for every level. Well done.

Bbsus2/D sounds so magical.

What a well explained tutorial, cheers

switched over after watching wendy melvoin explain her new pedal rig and demo-ing the intro to purple rain....such an iconic intro. not a guitar player, i play drums but with just that one strummed chord i know in a millisecond what the song is.

I sub with cover bands in the midwest so every few weeks I'm learning a handful of new songs. A few years ago this intro clobbered me to get it right. I was close but not this close (maybe level 4 no capo). Really as a guitar player I was just jonesing for the guitar solo at the outro. Thank you for the great viideo/walkthrough!