SHUT UP 'N PLAY YER GUITAR: MODES

"Joe's garage" and the 1981 live album "Tinsel town rebellion" show the growing importance of Zappa's guitar soloing on his albums. The first one with Joe's imiginary guitar solo's, the second one having two complex ones on "Easy meat" and "Now you see it, now you don't". From 1970 onwards Zappa recorded almost all of his gigs, allways including several guitar solo's. The majority of the solos are improvised all through, only the accompaniment type and meter are agreed upon in advance so that the band knows what to do. Zappa's guitar solo's aren't meant to show off technically (Zappa hasn't claimed to be a big virtuoso on the instrument), but for the pleasure it gives trying to build a composition right in front of an audiance without knowing what the outcome will be.
Zappa wanted to compile an album with his guitar solo's for some time, but Warner Bros. weren't cooperative. Now he had new chances. The 1981 three record set "Shut up 'n play yer guitar" contains two hours of soloing, mostly taken from the 1979 and 1980 tour, and it sold above expectations. Thus reinforced he could do it again in 1987 with a two CD set, briefly called "Guitar", with solo's mostly recorded between 1981 and 1984 (see the "Guitar - Trance-fusion" section for the latter collection). When you're unfamiliar with them, these two large issues combined with the many guitar solo's on the regular albums, may very well lead to some prejudice that music in such quantities can't be good. But when you start listening carefully you can also come to the opposite conclusion that his level is always high and that he just can't miss. Both views don't appear to be accurate. As Zappa himself pointed out in "The Real Frank Zappa book" the number of released guitar solo's is only a fragment of the recorded number and most guitar solo's didn't work out. The issues are the result of listening to all tapes and selecting the best ones.

In 1979 Zappa hired the virtuoso guitar player Steve Vai to transcribe a number of his guitar solo's, which he continued to do till 1981. The transcriptions included most of the "Joe's Garage" solo's, more than half of the "Shut up 'n play yer guitar" solo's and a few others. They were published in 1982 as the 300 pages issue "The Frank Zappa guitar book" (cover to the right, publisher Munchkin Music). Steve Vai made the transcriptions with a great deal of accuracy, including a broad range of irregular rhythmic groupings and some occasional quarter tones. Zappa's improvised speech influenced rhythms frequently look horrible on paper (see for instance the bars from "Shut up 'n play yer guitar" below). Whereas Zappa took all rhythmic freedom during his solo's and used all types of chords, he wanted the accompaniment to remain simple, playing in a constant metre and with easy harmonies. Mostly he is playing over a pedal point, two alternating chords or a vamp. He needed this to build a contrast with his own soloing; if the accompaniment would play with a flexible metre, it would become everybody playing rubato, he noted in "The Real Frank Zappa book". Zappa's early solo's can be relatively friendly from the rhythmical point of view as the "Orange county" solo from the Roxy and elsewhere section and the "Call any vegetable" solo from the Beat the boots section. Zappa's later solo's however are full of these wild irregular rhythmic groupings. Also the drum parts during the later solos had become very vivid and complex and totally different from the elementary drumming of Jimmy Carl Black during the sixties.

Zappa's preference to keep playing in one key becomes clear by looking through the pages of the "The Frank Zappa guitar book" and the transcribed sections in this study. Also in the pieces that use more scales, the scales are closely related with only the key note changed or one or two notes altered, and the modulations are never abrupt. The scales of the "Shut up 'n play yer guitar" solos are given beneath, with some comment on the choice of the key note (several of them are indicated in the Guitar book, others by me). These key notes of the scales are given by the accompaniment. It doesn't mean that the solo has to open on the key note or confirm it (often it doesn't), but that it's using the notes of that key. As an exception to the rule can be taken the ending of "Black napkins" from "Zoot Allures". The piece is using the closely related keys of C sharp Minor (aeolian) and D Lydian, that differ by one note (D sharp versus D). At the end there's a sudden change to the unrelated scale of G Dorian (the bass is here playing a pedal point on G). This change takes place at the 8th bar on page 300 of "The Frank Zappa guitar book" or at 3:41 on the CD. After playing up and down through this scale the solo ends in A Dorian (pedal point on A).


SHUT UP 'N PLAY YER GUITAR

1) "Five-five-FIVE".

All solos from what was originally record one of "Shut up 'n play yer guitar" have been transcribed in the Guitar book. "Five-five-FIVE" is not representative for Zappa's solos, using multiple scales. This "Shut up 'n play yer guitar" opening solo begins with an unusual chord progression in a 5/8 - 5/8 - 5/4 metre (hence it's name). It's a progression of chords all using the open D and G string of the guitar as pedal point notes, upon which the same chord type is played through scales that keep changing. The chord type is a 9th chord in the positioning fourth plus fourth plus major third. In the following note excerpt the first three bars are given in their complete form containing the first two 9th chords; next only the eight sequent 9th chords are given (all played in the same rhythm) plus the closing 5th chord.

Five-five-FIVE opening chord progression (midi file)

Five-five-FIVE opening chord progression (notes)

The 9th chord is played subsequently on the lowest notes F, E flat, G, A, B flat, A, C, D, hereafter ending with a 5th chord on D flat. The structure is thus completely determined by positioning the 9th chord and using the D and G string. Traditional harmony is totally ignored: the chords following each other don't have notes in common and the D and G don't have to be in the same scale as the 9th chord. Even the positioning of the chords with the last 5th chord on D flat becomes chromatic.

Zappa in Guitar Player, October 1995:
FZ: "It's in 5/8, 5/8, 5/4. You count it like this: One-two one-two-three, one-two one-two-three, one-and-two-and-three-and-four-and-five-and.
GP: "How would someone approach that without feeling as if they had two left feet?"
FZ: "It's a very guitar-oriented piece because of the way it uses the open string. So it's kind of an easy thing to pick-up on the guitar, in spite of the odd rhythm. As long as the numbers involved tend to frighten you, though, then the odd rhythms are not your meat. Don't worry about the numbers - you just have to worry about what the feel is. Whem I wrote that particular song I never even stopped to figure out what the time signature was. I don't worry about that when I'm playing the guitar. If I'm writing it for an orchestra, then I do. But I don't calculate how things that I make up on the guitar are going to look on paper or how it's ultimately going to be. I just play it and then figure out what it is later, after I've recorded it".

2) "Hog heaven".

A shorter solo in E Lydian, beginning with the picking on the lower guitar notes for about a minute. The bass guitar is giving a frequently recurring E as pedal point.

3) "Shut up 'n play yer guitar".

A solo in C Lydian, later on for a moment A Dorian. The accompanying chord scheme is I and II of C Lydian alternating, later on for a moment I and IV of A Dorian alternating. Zappa's solos could sometimes be individual pieces, but mostly they were part of songs. In this case the solo stems from "Inca roads" as included in the 1979 European winter tour. So you get a whole series of such C Lydian solos on tape, from which he would pick out the best. In this case Zappa was such pleased with the results that he would release five of them in total, four on this CD and one on "Guitar" ("System of edges").
Beneath are two bars of this solo with some examples of the difficult irregular groupings, that Steve Vai would use for transcribing:

Two bars from Shut up 'n play yer guitar (notes)

4) "While you were out".

The first of two solos with Zappa playing an acoustic guitar in the studio, accompanied by Warren Cucurullo on a 2nd acoustic guitar and Vinnie Colaiuta on drums. The key is sometimes D Myxolydian, sometimes D Dorian. The accompanying guitar frequently uses the bass string, tuned down from E to D, as pedal point for it's chords. The myxolydian F sharp and the dorian F are both used.
The meter of this solo isn't constant, there are even points where Steve Vai chose not to notate a meter division at all. Warren is picking out enlarged chords for the accompaniment, more common in jazz music than in rock.

5) "Treacherous cretins".

Here we get at a solo over a vamp, using multiple scales. In Guitar Player, october 1995, Zappa talked about a "harmonic climate" created by the vamp, implying D Minor and A: The guitar vamp plus the keyboards chords at the beginning thus being interpreted as I 5th of D Minor a nd I 5th of A with B being a passing through note.

Treachurous cretins vamp (notes)

6) "Heavy duty judy".

Another solo over a vamp, here in E Myxolydian. The vamp starts with I 5th of E Myxolydian. The sound of the guitar and some of it's licks are remindful of the "Easy meat" solo from "Tinsel town rebellion", recorded about a week later at Santa Monica, December 1980. The vamp returns with variations and extensions as a concert opener on "The best band you've never heard before".

7) "Soup 'n old clothes".

A solo in D Dorian. The bass guitar gives D as pedal point.


SHUT UP 'N PLAY YER GUITAR SOME MORE

1) "Variations on the Carlos Santana secret chord progression".

G Dorian. The vamp is I 7th and IV 5th alternating in G Dorian or a G Minor and a C chord alternating if you wish; Zappa refers to it as "That ol' G Minor thing again" on "Guitar", where the vamp is used again.

2) "Gee, I like your pants".

C Lydian. The accompanying chord scheme is I and II of C Lydian alternating. The band played five gigs between January 17th and 19th at the Odeon Hammersmith in London, doing two times an early and a late show. This solo is a cut out of one of the two "Inca roads" solos as explained above, played on January 18th.

3) "Canarsie".

A restless solo, played over a vamp that is alternating C sharp and E. The solo itself is chromatic, not using a specific key and using many dissonant intervals. "Canarsie" and "Ship ahoy" are the two solos from "Shut up 'n play yer guitar some more", that aren't transcribed in the Guitar book.

4) "Ship ahoy".

This is the oldest solo on "Shut up 'n play yer guitar", stemming from the 1976 tour in Japan and Australia. Two variants can be found on the Zappa Family Trust releases "FZ plays FZ" and "FZ:OZ". In the seventies he sometimes experimented with aftersounds, like the echo on "Leather goods" from "Läther". Here there are higher and lower as well as more irregular resonating aftersounds. A section of "Ship ahoy" also got included on "Läther", following upon the "Little green rosetta" theme.
"Ship ahoy" is played over a straight bass D-pedal, using D Dorian and D Myxolydian (both F and F sharp are used).

5) "The deathless horsie".

This is a solo with a larger preset opening theme. It uses various scales. The modulation scheme is B Mixolydian, A Lydian, C sharp Minor (aeolian) and back to B Mixolydian. The bass guitar is giving the sequent key notes as pedal point.

6) "Shut up 'n play your guitar some more".

C Lydian as above.

7) "Pink napkins".

Pink napkins, opening (midi file)

Pink napkins, opening (notes)

C sharp Minor (aeolian) and D Lydian. The bass guitar is alternating C sharp and D; it's the same pattern as in "Black napkins", see above. Zappa loved "Black napkins", playing it on the road for three sequent years from 1976 to 1978. For this particular 1977 concert Zappa chose not to play the regular "Black napkins" opening theme, but to go straight to soloing over the progression. The meter is also different, namely 6/8 instead of 3/4, subdivided as two times 3/8.


RETURN OF THE SON OF SHUT UP 'N PLAY YER GUITAR

1) "Beat it with your fist".

A short solo in A Dorian over the bass playing A pedal.

2) "Return of the son of shut up 'n play yer guitar".

Except for "Stucco Homes", the solos from the third "Return of the son of shut up 'n play yer guitar" album haven't been transcribed in the Guitar book, so here I can do some of the work. This is the fourth and longest C Lydian solo included in this set.

Return of the son of shut up 'n play yer guitar, 0:55 till 1:25 (midi file)

Return of the son of shut up 'n play yer guitar, 0:55 till 1:25 (transcription)

3) "Pinnochio's furniture".

A solo in G Myxolydian with a bass motif using the I 5th chord (most bars start with a D-G movement).

4) "Why Johnny can't read".

An agitated solo in E Mixolydian. The first minute Zappa is playing alone with only an E-pedal note coming up. After this minute the drummer joins in, but they never seem to get at a regular downbeat. It's almost incredible that Zappa can keep this nerve-racking pace up for four minutes. The opening lick is an arpeggio figure picking on all seven notes of the scale, so you get to the largest chord that's possible within a key, namely a 13th chord.

Why Johnny can't read, opening (midi file)

Why Johnny can't read, opening (transcription)

5) "Stucco homes".

The second of the two solos with Zappa playing an acoustic guitar in the studio. It's a lenghty one, transcribed in full by Steve Vai. The set up is the same as in "While you were out" from above.

6) "Canard du jour".

Jean-Luc Ponty worked with Zappa from 1969 through 1973, but left the band in that year because he rather played jazz than the pieces Zappa had recorded for "Overnite sensation". Zappa wasn't amused, but also not vindictive, so here they are playing a duet without accompaniment. Zappa gave Jean-Luc equal space, crediting him as co-writer. So you get two personal styles mixed in this duet, giving it a special admosphere. Jean-Luc can play softly, romantically, holding notes. Zappa is as good as always fast, an ongoing stream of rhythmic and harmonic combinations.

For further reading in this study about the guitar solos:
- Roxy and elsewhere: harmonies of the Orange County solo.
- Zoot allures: idem of the Zoot Allures solo.
- Sheik Yerbouti: solo building of Yo' Mama.
- Guitar: solo types.