Frank Zappa on why he was a “specialised” guitar player
Very few musicians have come close to the levels of innovation and sheer strangeness of a man like Frank Zappa. As a counter-cultural icon, Zappa embued his music with influences from across the globe. An early interest in avant-garde composers such as Igor Stravinsky and Edgard Varèse inspired him to pursue music, as did R&B, jazz, the blues.
As a teenager, Zappa began composing and arranging unconventional pieces for his school’s orchestra. Once he graduated, he completed his first professional recordings, which were soundtracks to low-budget movies. His music for The World’s Greatest Sinner and Run Home Slow paved the way for Zappa’s later work as a member of the Mothers of Invention, which he joined in 1964. The band released their debut album, Freak Out!, in 1966, which, following the release of Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde, became the second-ever double album. The record was revolutionary and is often considered one of music’s first concept albums, emphasising Zappa’s view on American culture through a satirical lens.
Zappa and the rest of the Mothers of Invention became central figures in Los Angeles’ ‘freak scene’, often inviting the audience members at their shows to “freak out” with them. The musician was unapologetically interested in all things weird and wonderful, giving his music a distinctive quality that attracted a dedicated fanbase. To this day, Zappa’s music has endured due to its unique charms, and he is often labelled as the godfather of comedy rock.
His music blended nearly every genre you can think of, although it was characterised by its unorthodox nature. On Freak Out!, Zappa and his bandmates mixed genres such as R&B and doo-wop with experimental sound collages, making it one of the decade’s most influential albums. Yet the musician never stuck to one sound, with his output ranging from orchestral albums, to experimental pieces and rock-inspired songs.
In a 1999 issue of Guitar World, the interviewer recalled speaking to the musician a decade prior, who explained: “There’s no single ideal listener out there who likes my orchestral music, my guitar albums and songs like Dyna-Moe-Hum. That’s why sometimes I’ll do an orchestral album, and the people who like guitar stuff can’t stand it. And then a guitar album comes out, and the people who liked the orchestral album can’t stand that.”
Although Zappa is one of the most influential musicians of all time, some people have criticised him for lacking technical guitar skills, whereas others have labelled him a genius. It seems as though his skills are as divisive as his music, but Zappa himself would be inclined to agree with the latter. When asked in a 1980 interview with MTV if he thinks he’s a great guitarist, he replied, “Well, I’m specialised. What I do on the guitar has very little to do with what other people do on a 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 play the same one every night,Frank Zappa on why he was a “specialised” guitar player and it’s really just spotless.”
He continued: “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. I don’t know what I’m gonna play, I don’t know what I’m gonna do. I know roughly how long I have to do it, and 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 that’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.”
