As a beginning jazz student in Jr High School I heard Montana early 70s and instantly understood he was as modern and arresting as Igor Stravinsky but funnier. Worked for me. Well History of a Soldier is pretty funny actually and polytonal.
I read somewhere that Joni Mitchell was said to be the queen of the sus chord. So was Frank Zappa the king? Or maybe Keith Emerson... Anyway, if I watch this video ten times, I might start to really get a better understanding of Zappa's music. But I used to have my keyboard right next to my computer so I that could just reach over and play these chords. Now it is in another room. Sigh..... All three musicians were favs of my high school years, but of the three, Zappa's harmonies were the hardest for me to duplicate on the keyboard and understand. I pretty much gave up trying, whereas with ELP, it was easier.
This is really interesting. Am I wrong to say that Zappa's use of stepwise root movement signals his lack of formal training? His self-taught perspective? It's as if he has no care for what 'proper' or 'beautiful' harmonic movement looks like, and instead simply liked the geometrical shapes of the patterns on the piano/sheet. Maybe he knew, even when putting chord progressions together in this 'lazy' way, that he could still make it sound good by incorporating different sections such that his songs could include more notes, more movement along octaves, giving his songs tension and an 'epic' feeling of travelling places, musically speaking. It's like he saw and heard composing in an amateur but also unique way? Like he found a simple way to make complex/interesting sounding music? I'm interested in this because this is sort of how I like to compose too.
That's the first time I had to cut a video about Zappa's retro-engineering. I'm not a musician, so it's hard for me to follow, given the huge density of what is presented here. But I like it. One thing we learned with Zappa is to push back our limits, so I'll come back to it later. It's pure happiness for me to see that there's so much material about his music since the movie about him in the theaters. It seems that 2024 is the year of UFOs disclosure and ZAPPA rediscovery ; I can't be more fulfilled. 🙏 👽🛸🎸
I’m pretty sure about 10k of this video’s 41k views are mine lol - I just keep going back again and again. I ‘understand’ about.. maybe 10% of the technical content, but it’s so damn fun - the content, your delivery, the production. thank you Tyler 🙏 seanM
Every time I see a video of yours dealing with Zappa, I am amazed by how insanely complex Zappas stuff is. How this man composed all of these things, all of these rythms, melodies, layers, etc, all are so far out there. I also get a little upset since it shows me how little I actually know about music despite playing an instrument for 10 years. Its like taking physics in high school and liking it, and then trying to understand Einsteins work. What a genius. Apparently his IQ was 160, and I don't doubt even a single point of it lol
I am blown away by the high quality and extreme depth of detail in your videos. The theory in them is way beyond me but I have long searched for clues to how he made his music so unique. You have truly done the world a service! Did you figure all of this out by ear or did you find the music somewhere? Seems like the notating alone would take a lifetime, then two more lifetimes for the analysis. Throw in your expansive knowledge of his catalog and concert tapes, and the high quality video production. You are unbelievable - PLEASE keep it going!!!
In reference to what you mention at 10:55 seconds, The reason it's over 4/4 is because early in the Mothers of Invention's career (And I came across this information in one of Zappa's books), the band wasn't skilled enough to wrap their heads around anything outside of 4/4 time. Zappa wrote whatever he wanted to write in whatever time signatures he wanted, but he laid it over 4/4 time so that the band wasn't confused by all those weird time signatures as they had to learn them. It was probably a good mental exercise for Zappa, too, possibly enabling him to think of several time signatures at the same time in preparation for his "Xenochrony phase" for a lot of Joe's Garage and the Shut Up And Play Yer Guitar albums.
i'm a huge zappa fan but am not a musician so can understand a mere fraction of your excellent breakdown but you reference most of the melodies and phrases that have always felt the most zappa-esque. your knowledge is wonderful!
I love how in Sy Borg the melody notes (Syyy Booooorg) are a perfect fifth apart while the chords underneath are a tritone. The BbMaj7#11 is my favorite chord, especially on the 1st fret on a guitar with the open 1st string.
An early version of the 20th Century insert happens on “It Can’t Happen Here”! This aspect of Zappa’s composition was always my favorite aspect of his music.
This is so incredibly dense information wise and as a die-hard Zappa fan I had to watch it in one sitting. Thanks for breaking it down in such a clear and concise manner 👏
Man, you did such a fantastic job! And some great bootleg gems too! The '87 rehearsal tape without Frank is such an incredible thing to listen to, I couldn't believe my eyes and ears when I found out about it. Thanks for honoring Frank's legacy with such depth! Cheers from Italy
This song completely changed my ears forever…… what an amazing homage to the Maestro Tyler…. Genius analysis of genius…. Fair play to you you’re doing something really special here
Well done! I’ve wanted to thank you for your Zappa videos, they have done wonders in teaching me theory and what goes on behind the scenes of my favorite songs. I hope a new one is on the way soon, but I’d be perfectly content with seeing more of your playing. Keep up the good work!
As evidenced by showing an example of sus2 chords while I say that - complete with the voicing underneath. There are times where we see just R-5 or the 4th instead of the 3rd as well.
