How Frank Zappa defied the “laws of nature” with his music
His music could never be described as popular, but Frank Zappa made such bold and colourful ripples within his unique corner of 20th-century music that very few are unaware of his majesty. As a true musical visionary, Zappa drew on rock, jazz and classical influences to craft a diverse oeuvre as both a solo artist and with his band, The Mothers of Invention.
Zappa’s area of expertise was sparsely populated, but if one were to relate contemporary rock artists to his style, prog-rock bands of the 1970s, such as Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Jethro Tull, would be more suited candidates than, say, punk or glam rock groups.
Although he was proficient behind a drum kit, at the keyboard and on the bass, Zappa’s weapon of choice when performing and composing was the guitar. Fortunately, his breakthrough in the early 1970s coincided with the emergence of prog-rock, and hence, there was an insatiable appetite for complex, guitar-driven music.
Although he could easily be pigeonholed with bands like Yes, Genesis and Rush, Zappa would frequently note how he was cut from a different cloth. During a past interview, Zappa was asked whether he considered himself a “great guitarist”.
The famously zany and eloquent musician gave a characteristically profound response. “Well, I’m specialised,” Zappa responded. “What I do on the guitar has very little to do with what other people do on the guitar. Most of the other guitar solos that you hear performed on stage have been practised over and over and over again. They go out there, and they play the same one every night, and it’s really just spotless.”
Zappa’s jazz sensibilities shone through in a penchant for improvisation that distinguished him from most of his peers. “My theory is this: I have a basic mechanical knowledge of the operation of the instrument, and I got an imagination. And when the time comes up in the song to play a solo, it’s me against the laws of nature,” he continued.
“I don’t know what I’m going to play,” he added. “I don’t know what I’m going to do; I know roughly how long I have to do it. It’s a game where you have a piece of time, and you get to decorate it and, depending on how intuitive the rhythm section is, it’s backing you up.”
“You can do things that are literally impossible to imagine sitting here, but you can see them performed before your very eyes in a live performance situation,” Zappa concluded.
Watch Frank Zappa do what he did best below.
