GUITAR: SOLO TYPES AND MINGLING OF CLOSELY RELATED SCALES

Zappa in 1984 In 1987 Zappa released a second guitar solo collection, named "Guitar". It differs a bit in climate compared to the first "Shut up 'n play yer guitar" box of 1981. This 1981 collection shows more unity. The majority of the solos were recorded during a shorter time-span (1979-1980), the sound of the guitar in the various solos is more alike and the Lydian mode with a I and II chord alternation is often used.
Then in "Guitar" there's more variety. The pedal note and vamp solos prevail. This is part of the reason why "Guitar" is a more demanding guitar album to listen to. With the chord alternations, when you drop out following what the guitar wants, you at least have the certainty that you can follow the chord change every one or two bars. It's sort of a comfortable basis. The other part is that Zappa in his search for rhythmic and melodic variation here repeatedly turns to sections that are less fluid, sometimes to the extent of being aggressive (I noted that some Zappa fans don't appreciate the album, finding it too much and all "sounding alike"; personally it took me a while to get accustomed to the CD, but after I did I enjoy it a lot). The C Lydian chord alternation here returns once in a 1979 solo, called "Systems of edges", as a reminiscence of "Shut up 'n play yer guitar". To the right an outtake from one of the photos by Sergio Albonico from the CD booklet.

In this section we'll look some more at the different accompanying types Zappa is using in his solos. They can be divided into four categories. The subject already has come by in the previous sections. The following is a summary of the guitar solo bars in this study, subdivided this way, with several new examples from "Guitar". The Shut up 'n play yer guitar section contains tables of all solos with their scales and types. The latter table is a consequence of my discussion with Brett Clement about Zappa's use of scales. So some redundancy between these two sections of my study grew out of this, but I prefer not to re-shuffle the content of my study through time.

1.1 Sexual harassment in the workplace

1) Solos over a chord progression or being a chord progression.

This is the most common way of doing a solo in rock music. Mostly there's an instrumental in a song where the accompaniment keeps following the main chord progression and someone is doing a solo over it. Because you already know the chords the solo sounds as a logical in-between without surprises. In other instances the soloist is filling in the chords of the accompaniment that are agreed upon in advance. Zappa rarely does solos this way. The solo from "Dirty love" from "Overnite sensation" is a clear example of him playing in this manner. The one from "Any downers" (1981), is a smaller one, very typical of how solos are normally played during pop songs. The most exceptional ones are the "Zoot allures" and the "Five-five-FIVE" solo openings, that are chord progressions by themselves. Another one is the title track from "Sleep dirt" where the accompaniment is doing broken chords. It ends with joking about the repetitiveness of playing broken chords: "Damn! What? Your fingers got stuck?". Solos of this kind in this study are:

- "Lost in a whirlpool" opening: playing over the blues scheme in 1958.
- "Walking out" section.
- "Hungry freaks, daddy" (follows the progression from the song).
- "Peaches jam": blues.
- "Khaki sack" (follows the progression from the song).
- "Road ladies": blues.
- "Call any vegetable" solo section from a 1971 bootleg. Here the keyboard is basically doing a vamp, the same one as on the original version on "Absolutely free", but in the transcribed bars it's making a movement.
- "Another whole melodic section" section.
- "Fifty-fifty" section. A solo following a modulation scheme.
- "Penguin in bondage": blues.
- "Phyniox". A solo following a modulation scheme, combined with the use of vamps.
- "Zoot allures" main theme, as mentioned.
- "Sleep dirt" opening, idem.
- "Bowling on Charen" third example.
- "Five-five-FIVE" opening, idem.
- "Any downers (1981)" (follows the progression from the song).
- "Stevie's spanking" opening.
- "For Giuseppe Franco" section. A pedal note solo with a section with a chord progression in it, that is transcribed in this study.
- "Sexual harassment in the workplace" intro.

Sexual harassment in the workplace, intro (midi file).

Sexual harassment in the workplace, intro (transcription).

Zappa kept playing the blues throughout his career. "Suicide chump" and "In France" are two of his eighties blues pieces. "Guitar" opens friendly with Zappa playing over the blues scheme in "Sexual harassment in the garage". Blues is a highly standardized style, there's little more possible than to play around the scheme (see also the Bongo fury section). Here Zappa is adding in extra chords in C sharp minor. The I of the blues I-IV-I-IV-V progression is augmented as I 7th followed by V and the IV becomes IV 7th plus I. Then of course there is the solo itself.
In his response to me Brett Clement disagrees (?) with calling it minor/Aeolian, writing: "blues minor pentatonic, neither melody or accompaniment is purely Aeolian: melody (minor pentatonic), accompaniment (minor, but includes V7#9)". Of course one can listen to a melody and the accompaniment individually, but for the identification of the scale a piece is in, one has to listen to all parts combined. One does this for orchestral scores and the harmonizations of Zappa's music can be crucial for verifying scales. After relistening I agree that there's a dissonant note to be added to the V chord. It's indeed V7#9 (G#7#9) and not just G#m7, as I first had. I consider the presence of altered notes normal. Pure (100%) Aeolian is unrealistic, as pure minor pentatonic would be for the melody only (e.g. Zappa is playing a D# too between 1:30-1:32). It's minor with pentatonic passages. And yes, there are altered notes. See my citation of Zappa at the "Them or us" solo: "it's like the difference between eating oatmeal and eating salsa."

1.2 Which one is it?

2) Solos over pedal notes.

With the second solo on "Guitar", "Which one is it?", we get to one of the many solos where Zappa is playing over a pedal note. With the leaving of the familiar blues scheme the tension immediately rises. The opening of "Which one is it?" is an example of mingling closely related scales, Bb major and Bb Lydian in this case. The example below are its first eight bars. Zappa is mostly using the E-flat from the Bb major scale, while the harmonies are using an E natural. The construction of this solo is unusual. Zappa keeps rhythmically picking on only a few notes for 45 seconds. The tempo is fast, with the meter being 12/16. There are many instances of playing before or after beat, though the downbeat is clearly kept with only few syncopes. Between 0:45 and 1:38 chord progressions stand central, beginning with just Bbm and C alternating. Here the solo is moving over to normal Bb Lydian. Only from 1:38 onwards Zappa starts soloing in his regular melodic way.

Which one is it?, 0:00-0:11 (midi file).

Which one is it?, 0:00-0:11 (transcription).

It's a rare example where you can hear both the solo and the song it was taken from on an official CD. When you listen to "Which one is it?" by itself, there's no way you can connect it to "The black page" (see also below at "Sinister footwear III"). "The black page #2", as included on "YCDTOSA Vol. V", was recorded at Munich, June 1982. It begins with soloing over the vamp from the "Them or us" solo (see the corresponding section), thus another rare example of knowing when a certain type of vamp was used by listening to an official CD. Halfway it becomes more like a regular Bb pedal figure, the part "Which one is it?" was taken from. During the first half you can also hear the riff from "Ya Hozna" being played through it.

Sections from the following titles are present in this study as examples of pedal note solos:

"Breaktime"/"Waltz" (these two have a jazz type walking bass, rather than pedal notes; there's only a tendency for one note to be the pedal note), "Invocation & ritual dance of the young pumpkin", "Nine types of industrial pollution", "Willie the pimp", "Get a little", "The Orange County lumber truck", "Baked bean boogie", "Basement jam", "The Nancy and Mary music", "Twinkle tits", "The subcutaneous peril", "Call any vegetable" solo ("Just another band from L.A."), "Brixton still life", "Big swifty" solos, "Waka/Jawaka" solo, "Think it over", "D.C. Boogie", "Montana" (1972), "Apostrophe (')" (rather a duet than a pedal note solo, but the B can be taken as pedal note/tonic), "Pygmy twylyte" (1st example), "Rollo" opening, Rhythm guitar solo from "Chunga's revenge" (1975), "Friendly little finger", "Wonderful wino" end, "Ship ahoy" section, "The ocean is the ultimate solution" sections, "The purple lagoon/Approximate" solo, "Sheik Yerbouti tango", "Mo' mama", "Heidelberg", "Paroxysmal splendor", "Ancient armaments", "He used to cut the grass", "Easy meat", "While you were out", "Soup 'n old clothes", "The deathless horsie", "Why Johnny can't read", "Canard du jour", "The torture never stops" (1980, first solo), "Truck driver divorce" solo, "Sinister footwear III", "Drowning witch" 2nd solo, "Zoot allures" 1984, 2nd half, "Penguin in bondage" 1984 solo, "Which one is it?", "Republicans", "Do not pass go", "In-a-gadda-Stravinsky" (2nd example), "Chalk pie", "That's not really reggae", "Once again, without the net", "Were we ever really save in San Antonio?", "That's not really a shuffle", "When no one was no one", "Move it or park it", "Variations on Sinister #3", "But who was Fulcanelli?", "For Duane", "GOA", "Swans? What swans?", "Too ugly for show business", "Do not try this at home", "Canadian customs", "The torture never stops part two" (1987), "Improvisation in A", Budapest solo, "Good Lobna", "Butter or cannons", "Gorgo", "After dinner smoker", "Finding Higgs' Boson", "Bavarian sunset", "Dance me this".

1.3 Republicans

The next solo, "Republicans", is in 4/4 with a steady beat all through. This piece has a shifting pedal note and the soloing moves on chromatically. It doesn't use a diatonic scale, but you can't call it atonal neither. In the transcribed section Zappa mostly follows E-F#-G-A-Bb-C#-D#. The pedal notes start with E at 0:00, subsequently B Flat at 2:19, D sharp at 3:17 and then back to E at 4:29.

Republicans, opening (midi file).

Republicans, opening (transcription).

The handling of the pedal notes in Zappa's solos can take various directions. In "Ship ahoy" the pedal note is buzzing in the background. In "Republicans" it's a pedestrian beat. In most solos the bass is playing around the pedal note, as for instance in the transcribed section from "GOA" below.

1.4 Do not pass go

Zappa band in 1982 "Do not pass go" is a pedal note solo in B Dorian. It's a relatively relaxed solo, with Zappa playing sustained and glissando notes as in bars 2-3 of the next example.

Do not pass go, 0:33-0:48 (midi file).

Do not pass go, 0:33-0:48 (transcription).

At such points the accompaniment is getting closer into the picture. Keyboards and rhythm guitars are represented in the example in a somewhat reduced form in staves 2-3. Throughout the piece one of the two rhythm guitars tends to alternate between the III and IV chords, as during beat 3 of bar 1 from the example.

1.5 Chalk pie

"Chalk pie" is another pedal note solo, this one in A Mixolydian. "Chalk pie" is also the title of a live double album from his 1982 tour, that Zappa once considered releasing. See the Cosmic Debris book by Greg Russo, the 2002 "son of revised" edition, page 268. "Chalk pie" would have been the title track. All listed songs have subsequently been released elsewhere, spread out over a number of CDs. Above to the right Zappa's band in 1982 (photo downloaded from the Steve Vai site).

Chalk pie, 2:37-2:55 (midi file).

Chalk pie, 2:37-2:55 (transcription).

Halfway you can hear the rhythm section moving towards a rhythm with two triplets per beat. It looks this was an agreed upon preparation for letting the vamp from "Heavy duty Judy" return. See the Shut up 'n play yer guitar section for this vamp as how it was originally played. First you can hear Zappa playing variations upon this vamp during the example from above. Next it's taken over by one of the keyboard players in the background, audible for half a minute. It can also be heard being played on rhythm guitar at the very end of this track.

1.6 In-a-gadda-Stravinsky

From the perspective of mingling related scales (see below), "In-a-gadda-Stravinsky" is an interesting solo because it's using a number of scales simultaneously. It's a bizarre solo. First the rhythm. The bass plays a figure in 4/4 for the first half of this solo. It's on beat during beats 1-2 and continues syncopically during beats 3-4. The strange thing about it is the behaviour of the two rhythm guitars: they ignore the 4/4 meter by the bass and drums and follow their own tempo.

Graphic presentation of the location of the rhythm guitar chords over the bass vamp during the first three bars of this track.

It causes some notational difficulties. In the first example below the beats of rhythm guitar #1 happen to coincide with a 9-tuplet for bars 1-2 rather well, but at the transition from bar 6 to 7 it has started to shift a little. Rhythm guitar #2 coincides with the pattern of staff 3 - an eighth note followed by a pause of a half note - but that also only lasts neatly for the example here. During the second example rhythm guitar #1 has left and the tempo is a bit slower. But rhythm guitar #2 is still present, following the same tempo from the first example. It's like xenochrony, but in the opposite direction. During the summer update of 2023 I came across a second example from the 1984 tour where this is happening, namely during the solo from "Trouble every day". See the Does humor belong in music section for the details. See also the last two "Stucco homes" examples from the Shut up 'n play yer guitar section for how Steve Vai handled situations like this.

In-a-gadda-Stravinsky, opening (midi file).
In-a-gadda-Stravinsky, section (midi file).

In-a-gadda-Stravinsky, opening (transcription).
In-a-gadda-Stravinsky, section (transcription).

For the first half the bass guitar plays a vamp in D Dorian (all notes natural), while rhythm guitar #2 implies D Lydian (with an F#, C# and G#). Zappa can use either of these scales or get between them via D Mixolydian (F#, others natural) or D major (F# and C#, others natural). At several points his soloing becomes chromatic. During bars 1 till 7 (beats 1-2) Zappa follows D major. At beat 3 of bar 7 the F# gets altered to F natural and Zappa continues in D Dorian for a while on the CD. For the second half of the solo the bass vamp disappears to make place for, basically, D pedal. At the point of the second example Zappa is playing in D Mixolydian. For bars 7-8 the bass plays an A pedal and it looks like Zappa might want to continue in A, but at the end of bar 8 things are getting chromatic. This continues more explicitly in bars 9-10.
Bars 1-5 of the first example are rhythmic and melodic variations upon the opening motif from "Rite of the spring" by Igor Stravinsky, also occurring during "Amnesia vivace". See the Absolutely free section from this study for some more comment upon references to Stravinsky, where I've included the score of the opening bars from "Rite of the spring". The "In a gadda" part of the title is a reference to "In a gadda da vida" by Iron Butterfly, of which the opening riff is getting cited by the bass during the first example from above (staff 4). In the Real FZ book, chapter All about music, Zappa talks about dividing an audience into a number of sections and asking them to start singing themes from different songs/compositions on turn. Among others "In a gadda da vida" and the first bassoon theme from "Rite of the spring" are being mentioned. Rhythmic equality would be undoable in a situation like this. Perhaps this effect is the origin of the behaviour of the rhythm guitars during "In-a-gadda-Stravinsky".

1.7 That's not really reggae

"That's not really reggae" is a pedal note solo in A Dorian. The example below contains bars 1-3 of the first solo. There's a rhythm guitar present, scratching notes with only faintly audible pitches in bar 3, but indeed not like reggae.

That's not really reggae, 0:00-0:10 (midi file).

That's not really reggae, 0:00-0:10 (transcription).

The bass during this track isn't fixed as a pedal note. At various spots it sounds as if the bass is playing progressions of broken chords, mostly using I, III and IV. At 2:26 Zappa introduces something you might call a theme with fast notes, being varied upon a couple of times. At 2:50 he begins playing chord progressions around III and IV himself, with the bass and especially the keyboards mostly following him. It coincides with the often used I-II alternation in C Lydian from "Shut up 'n play yer guitar", which is why it sounds familiar. See also below at "Systems of edges".

1.8 When no one was no one

"When no one was no one" is yet another example of a pedal note solo, this title being in A Mixolydian. The example below contains the first four bars, to be heard between 0:00 and 0:14. It's in a calm tempo in 4/4.

When no one was no one, bars 1-4 (transcription).

In bars 1-2 various forms of irregular groupings can be heard. Zappa is on beat for beat 2 and 4 from bar 1, but lightly before beat for beat 3, caused by the 15:16 figure lasting two beats. Halfway bar 2 a sustained note comes in with glissandos, gliding through a number of note values till beat 3 of bar 4. My midi editor doesn't support this, so I can't include a midi file of this example.

1.9 Once again, without the net

The accompaniment of "Once again, without the net" is relatively simple: a D pedal by the bass with a pulsing chord around the notes from the Dsus2 chord. This chord, played by keyboards and rhythm guitars, isn't constant. The volume fluctuates and you've got notes coming up and fading out. The transcription is only by approximation regarding this aspect. The B and E can be part of the chord too at several instances. It's the combined harmonies of the solo and the accompaniment that are responsible for the intensity of this solo:
- The solo guitar frequently plays the F# and G#, so all diatonic harmonic combinations can be heard.
- The solo guitar follows the D Lydian scale, while the accompaniment uses the D Mixolydian scale. This creates a presence of conspicuous chromatic notes within the sound of the whole. It's almost like the bass and the guitar are competing about the G being natural or sharp, both in the example below (bars 1-6) and several other sections from the solo.
- The guitar part by itself is frequently applying altered notes too, like a C natural during 0:58-1:04, a D# at 1:14 and an A# at 1:33.

Once again, without the net, 0:00-0:23 (midi file).

Once again, without the net, 0:00-0:23 (transcription).

While Zappa liked to boast about his achievements, he opens "Guitar" with an understatement: "These solos were recorded live between 1979 and 1984. None of them are perfect, but I hope you can enjoy them anyway."
"Shut up 'n play yer guitar" centered around the 1979-1980 tours. This collection around the 1982 and 1984 tours (touring in 1983 was skipped). The 32 included solos can be subdivided over the touring years as:
- 1979: 2.
- 1981: 5.
- 1982: 11.
- 1984: 14.
The later "Trance-fusion" collection would focus on the 1988 tour. Zappa's various other live albums and quite some ZFT recordings cover the other years reasonably well too. Recording conditions could be less in earlier years. Still one might wonder about the possibilities the tape archive could offer.

1.10 Outside now (original solo)

"Outside now" has a characteristic vamp, which is why Zappa didn't re-title the four versions, that are available in his catalogue:
- The first release of "Outside now" can be found on "Joe's garage" (two examples are present in this study). It has an intro with lyrics, using the same vamp as the solo.
- "Outside now again" from "The perfect stranger" is a synclavier execution. It suggests an improvisation, but has been written out entirely. Some bars are present in this study. The piece has been performed by human ensembles as well, like the Asko ensemble.
- "Guitar" offers an entirely live recording from 1979, that Zappa calls the "original solo". Sections of its guitar line were superimposed over the "Keep it greasy" vamp from "Joe's garage". See the corresponding section for bars from "Outside now (original solo)" being compared to the overlapping "Keep it greasy" part.
- Another live recording from the 1988 tour can be found on "Broadway, the hard way". On this occasion a brass section was added to the instrumentation. The main theme from this version of "Outside now (1988)" is included in the corresponding section of this study.

Above are the opening bars of this solo in the "Joe's garage" execution, as transcribed by Steve Vai (including the drum part). The meter is 11/8 as 6/8+5/8, using dashed lines to indicate this. It is known that Zappa used xenochrony to transfer live solos to the "Joe's garage" album, as done with sections from "Outside now (original solo)". See the Halloween section at "Occam's razor" and Joe's garage section at "Keep it greasy" to see how this worked. Probably there are blocks from original live solos of "Outside now" too, that Zappa superimposed on a studio accompaniment for getting at the album version.

1.11 Jim and Tammy's upper room

"Jim and Tammy's upper room" is a pedal note solo in G Dorian. The accompaniment in this case is rather simple, just the G as the bass pedal note and some harmony notes. The opposite of the "Swans? What swans?" example at track 2.7 further below. Every now and then, the bass guitar player breaks this pattern with some motifs of its own as in bar 8. Zappa can be using chromatic notes (bars 2, 5 and 6).

Jim and Tammy's upper room, 0:00-0:17 (midi file).

Jim and Tammy's upper room, 0:00-0:17 (transcription).

The title of this solo can only refer to the TV evangelists couple Jim and Tammy Faye Baker. Around 1987 they were indicted for financial malversations and sexual abuse, and eventually convicted.

1.12 Were we ever really save in San Antonio?

SCALES AND MOODS

In music literature scales often get associated with moods. The major scale is explained as bright or merry, the minor scale as dark or sad. In the study by Brett Clement (see the left menu) you can find a table with the modal scales listed in this way. From brightest to darkest, the sequence is: Lydian-Ionian-Mixolydian-Dorian-Aeolian-Phrygian-Locrian (page 317). Some attempts are made to interpret Zappa's music in this manner:
Page 141: "Hence, Lydian is judged the brightest of all the modes and, of the five modes of the Lydian system, [...]. Of his four most often employed modes (Lydian, Ionian, Mixolydian, Dorian) only one is a "minor" mode, and that mode, Dorian, is the "brightest" of the minor modes. The general brightness of Zappa’s modal choices highlights the lack of "tragedy" expressed by his music."
Pages 134-5: "That is, Lydian and Dorian are, in a sense, polar opposites within the modal system. One manifestation of this binary relationship can be seen by hearkening back to our discussion of the Lydian mode, particularly the concert-opening guitar-solo vamp used by Zappa circa 1978-79: a sustained E pedal that was customarily accompanied by an E-Lydian solo. On Halloween night 1978, Zappa modified the opening solo by substituting an A pedal for the standard pedal on E and accompanying this A pedal with a Dorian improvisation. Given the occasion of Halloween, therefore, the characteristic minor tonality of Dorian was deemed a more appropriate concert introduction than the typical major tonality of Lydian."

Were we ever really save in San Antonio?, opening (midi file).

Were we ever really save in San Antonio?, opening (transcription).

As it comes to emotions in music you're getting at an area where you can't prove things. Ultimately only your own experience counts. There are common denominators however. When you're playing these scales up and down or when you're playing standard progressions in these scales as I-IV-V-I, most people will indeed experience major as joyful and minor as lamenting. This whole thing gets different as soon as you're getting at a composer as Zappa, using any chord in any position. In that case the above evaporates into a bigger universe. Just play a number of sus2- and sus4-chords in these keys instead of triads and seventh chords. According to Brett Lydian is Zappa's mostly used scale in his instrumental music and according to my findings Dorian and Mixolydian. In his response to me you can read that it would only be a matter of definition for Brett to agree with Dorian having that status: should pieces with pentatonic passages be called pentatonic (and not Dorian) or Dorian with pentatonic passages. In Zappa's music pentatonic passages are about always taking place in a Dorian or Mixolydian environment, so I think it should be the second. Just that would lead to a different accent regarding the moods according the mentioned table/sequence from above. Moreover Brett calls examples in Ionian in his study rare, so the inclusion of Ionian above at this specific point seems to be done to strengthen the argument. But that's not really the point I would like to make. In my opinion something else is going on: this table mostly doesn't apply at all in case of Zappa.
- In case of "Joe's garage", acts II and III, Zappa is both in his lyrics and music looking for tragedy in a classical sense. You've got Joe being deprived of his music, being able to play guitar solos only in his head. "Outside now" is in Bb Lydian and "Watermelon in Easter hay" is in E major. So Zappa is using major type of scales for his best known wailing solos. This doesn't mean that there's also "tragic" music by Zappa in minor type of scales. It does mean that Zappa could resort to any kind of scale for doing so.
- You can check the many examples in this study yourself to find if there is a relationship between moods and scales. "Were we ever really save in San Antonio?" from above is in B Dorian, "St. Etienne" from "Jazz from hell" is another one in B Dorian. Such solos don't sound "dark" to me.
As said, the main reason why the moods-table doesn't fit well, is Zappa's attitude towards harmony. In bar 1 of the example from above, Zappa is playing along II 7th, while the keyboard part improvises along I 7th and III 9th. The bass is giving a B pedal and you've got a second guitar maintaining an E. All combined you've got the whole B Dorian scale sounding as a 13th chord. When you continue with looking at how Zappa's guitar notes can be grouped into chords, you'll find he just does anything that pleases him. I find Zappa's solos very expressive and CDs as "Guitar" offer an ongoing stream of two hours of quality music. It's not just Zappa doing this, other composers can get at a more abstract emotional level as well:
- C. Debussy remained a diatonic composer (apart from a few whole-tone compositions), widening his use of chords from triads and sevenths to any combination within a scale. The effect of his non-standard progressions is both that they sound very refreshing till today and that it's difficult to describe the emotions they evoke with a regular vocabulary.
- A. Schoenberg willingly sought for complete atonality, leaving behind all standard patterns regarding emotional expression in music. You're getting in a different world, abstract, but expressive just the same when you're able to handle it well (as Schoenberg did).

Zappa in 1991

Still from Zappa being interviewed by Ivo Niehe (TROS television, 1991). They are sitting in the studio area of his house with some guitars positioned along the wall. The second one from the left is the burnt Hendrix strat, that Hendrix himself had given to Zappa in the sixties.

1.13 That ol' G-minor thing again

With the title of track 13, Zappa is referring to the "Variations on the Carlos Santana secret chord progression" solo from "Shut up 'n play yer guitar". Here he is re-using the vamp from this piece, a clear reference to the type of accompaniment Carlos Santana frequently used.

That ol' G-minor thing again, 0:00-0:21 (midi file).

That ol' G-minor thing again, 0:00-0:21 (transcription).

The example above begins with the band playing this two-bar vamp four times, before the guitar solos begins. Next to the rhythm with its characteristic syncopes, it's basically a Gm-C chord alternation, played here with a lot of freedom. See the Shut up 'n play yer guitar section for the official vamp from the FZ Guitar book. Zappa begins with following the rhythm of the vamp very neatly, varying and repeating motifs. At this point it's almost like writing a song, rather than soloing. From 1:52 onwards you can hear that two rhythm guitars start playing secondary accompanying figures. It sounds very peculiar at first, as if something from another song gets played through it, but also pretty interesting. Towards the end they are taking over control, with Zappa becoming a rhythm guitarist for them.

1.14 Hotel Atlanta incidentals

"Hotel Atlanta incidentals" is yet again another pedal note/vamp solo, this time in E Dorian. You might call the bass figure, lasting one bar, a vamp playing around E-G-E-A. The E is strongly present as pedal note.

Hotel Atlanta incidentals, 0:00-0:27 (midi file).

Hotel Atlanta incidentals, 0:00-0:27 (transcription).

A number of note values are used to give the opening of the solo the idea of accelerandos and ritenutos:
- Bar 1, beats 1-3: eighth notes.
- Bar 1, beat 4: double-dotted eighth notes in triplet time.
- Bar 2, beats 1-2: eighth notes in triplet time.
- Bar 2, beats 3-4 and bar 3, beat 1: dotted 16th notes.
- Bar 3, beats 2-4 and bar 4: standard variation.
- Bar 5: mainly fast notes.
- Bar 6-8: mainly sustained notes.
- Bar 9, beats 1-2: standard variation.
- Bar 9, beats 3-4: pausing.

1.15 That's not really a shuffle

"That's not really a shuffle" is neither normally diatonic, nor atonal. The overall sound tends towards Eb Dorian, which is why I notated this piece as if in Eb Dorian.

That's not really a shuffle, opening (midi file).

That's not really a shuffle, opening (transcription).

More precisely, what you are hearing is:
- The guitar and keyboard accompaniment is using the progression Eb-Fm-Gb-Fm. With the Eb chord, this figure starts implying Eb Mixolydian, but continues as if in Eb Dorian.
- Zappa is applying many chromatic notes during his solo, but mostly is following the Eb Dorian scale.
- The bass follows the largely descending line E-C-A-E, thus with the E and A being natural instead of sharp. There's a distance of one or two octaves between the bass and the other parts, so the created dissonance remains mild. There aren't enough bass notes to say this part is positively in a certain scale, but you could call this a form of bitonality with the bass playing notes from E Dorian.
So the whole stays indeterminate. There's no musical term covering this accurately.

1.16 Move it or park it

"Move it or park it" is one of two solos on "Guitar", where the accompaniment goes similar to the "Them or us" solo from the CD with the same title. The other is "Do not try this at home". See the corresponding section for an outtake of the particular "Them or us" solo. All three solos are in Bb Lydian, though the example below is chromatic. It contains the first six bars, played between 0:00 and 0:19.

Move it or park it, bars 1-6 (transcription).

"Move it or park it" begins with sustained guitar notes, half of the time constant, half of the time with glissandos. There are also guitar effects in it as feedback notes, scratched notes, volume changes and minor changes in sound. It's not really fit for transcribing and I haven't included all details, nor does my midi editor support an execution of it. This type of playing is an element in Zappa's soloing, not happening often, but an example ought to be included in this study. The accompaniment pauses most of the time, more often here than in the "Them or us" solo, for which reason I've included the drum part too. During many beats it's only guitar and drums.

1.17 Sunrise redeemer

"Sunrise redeemer" at the end of disc one is one of the solos on this album that are using a vamp, nicely varied upon by Scott Thunes. Halfway the vamp switches to being played an octave lower than in the following opening bars.

Sunrise redeemer, opening (midi file).

Sunrise redeemer, opening (transcription).

It's an E Mixolydian vamp of two bars. This vamp is characterized by alternating:
- First bar: jumping from E up to E an octave higher, next back to E.
- Second bar: moving upwards from E to D, next back to E again.
Again you've got a steady chord for the rhythm guitar. This time it's a major third on D, played before beat.

Sunrise redeemer, 2:55-3:20 (midi file).

Sunrise redeemer, 2:55-3:20 (transcription).

This second example is played towards the end. The rhythm guitar is now playing off-beat, rather than before beat. The bass vamp is varying the initial figures by moving through B-A and G natural -F#. From bar 3 onwards Zappa sustains his E note, a sign to get at the coda. The rhythm guitar draws back and the bass starts giving an E pedal instead of the vamp. In bar 9 Zappa starts soloing some more, altering the A to A#. The scale used at this point is E-F#-G#-A#-B-C#-D, not a standard diatonic scale. Shortly after 3:20 (the end of the example from above) the solo starts fading out, though still interesting changes are occurring. At 3:28 the vamp returns in a different shape. At 3:40 the pedal/chord switches to C natural.

2.1 Variations on Sinister #3

Zappa in 1984 Zappa's solos are mostly outtakes from songs, where these sections are played as instrumental interludes. The fact that this is known is largely by circumstantial evidence. The many bootlegs contain these pieces in their entirety. The solos themselves seldom relate to the material from the song that they were part of. Neither the accompaniment, nor Zappa is referring to themes or progressions from a song. No solo from "Guitar" can be attributed to a song when you're only listening to the solo itself. When taken separately, they become individual compositions in every meaning of the word. In fact, as it comes to what song they can be part of, they can be interpreted as interchangeable. Only the tempo and the key have to be in line with the song. More importantly, as it comes to the improvising, Zappa started anew each time. When you're looking at the opening bars from "Yo' mama" and "Mo' mama" (both present in this study), you can see that this concerns different compositions. So quite correctly Zappa's solos carry individual titles, instead of calling a solo "Solo from Inca roads #3" or something like that. Their quality is such that releasing three guitar solo collections is justified.
Sometimes however, there is a relationship with other solos:
- A solo includes a returning melodic section, that you can call pre-arranged or "written". This is the case in for instance "Black napkins", "Zoot allures" and "Watermelon in Easter hay". This is also the case in "Variations on Sinister #3", where you can indeed recognize variations upon thematic material from the "Sinister footwear III" solo, as released earlier on "You are what you is". An example from that particular solo is included in the Them or us section of this study, at the Sinister Footwear block.

Variations on Sinister #3, 0:13-0:35 (midi file).

Variations on Sinister #3, 0:13-0:35 (transcription).

The most direct variation is the opening bar of the solo. It's a rhythmic variation upon this figure as you can hear it on "You are what you is", that I've included in the corresponding section. The continuation around the higher E in bar 5 is also happening on "You are what you is". On "Guitar" this solo is played at its original pitch level, being E Lydian, thus not sped up to F Lydian as on "You are what you is".
- A solo has a characteristic vamp. This is the case in for instance "Outside now".
In both of such instances, Zappa is consistent in not giving these solos new titles.
To the right Zappa playing guitar during his 1984 tour. Further below one from 1982 (photos downloaded, photographers didn't get mentioned).

2.2 Orrin Hatch on skis

"Orrin Hatch on skis" is another solo using a vamp. This one has a reggae beat and a bass figure with a syncope in it during the second beat.

Orrin Hatch on skis, opening (midi file).

Orrin Hatch on skis, opening (transcription).

Regarding scales it's an example where Zappa is alternating or mingling two closely related scales while using the same keynote, two scales that only differ by one note. C major and C Lydian are for instance very close: you only have to vary between F and F#. For modulating from C major to minor (Aeolian) you would have to change three notes. There are other diatonic scale combinations, that behave the same like minor-Dorian, major-Mixolydian and Dorian-Mixolydian. It's a subtle manner of modulating, that Zappa sometimes applied both for his solos and written compositions. As already mentioned Zappa normally doesn't use drastic key changes in his solos. He preferred to stay in one key. When the key does change he could effect it by changing the pedal note (leaving the set of notes the same) or changing a note as in the list below. Solos that are using unrelated scales are rare. Examples mentioned in this study are the "Black napkins" ending and the solo from the Hammersmith Odeon version of "King Kong".
In "Orrin Hatch on skis" D Mixolydian tends to have the upper hand. The keyboard and rhythm guitar are in D Mixolydian all through. The bass starts chromatically (bars 1-3) and then continues in D Dorian. The guitar opens with an accentuated F in bar 1, bar 2 has an F# and bar three an F natural again. Next the guitar continues in D Mixolydian with only one more time the Dorian F on beat three from bar 6.

MINGLING OF CLOSELY RELATED SCALES

Below are a number of examples with two closely related scales with a common keynote, that have come by in this study:
- "The Gumbo variations": G Mixolydian and G Dorian (B versus Bb).
- "Get a little": E Dorian and E Mixolydian (G versus G#).
- "The mud shark": idem.
- "My guitar wants to kill your mama": G Mixolydian and G Dorian (B versus Bb).
- "Fifty-fifty": a couple of combinations, see the Overnite sensation section.
- "Father O'blivion" (Sydney 1973): G Mixolydian and G Dorian (B versus Bb).
- "Echidna's arf of you": E major and E Lydian (A versus A#), B minor and B Dorian (G versus G#).
- "Dickie's such an asshole": F# minor and F# Dorian (D versus D#).
- "All skate": A major, A Mixolydian and A Dorian (G# versus G and C# versus C).
- "Inca roads (1975)": C major and C Lydian (F versus F#).
- "Can't afford no shoes" guitar solo: E Mixolydian and E Dorian (G# versus G; sample bars are included in this study, see the One size fits all guitar book for the complete solo).
- "Carolina hard-core ecstasy (1984)": C major and C Lydian (F versus F#).
- "Advance romance" (Ljubljana): G Dorian and G Mixolydian (Bb versus B).
- "RDNZL" solo: A major and A Lydian (D versus D#).
- "Phyniox": Ab major and Ab Lydian (Db versus D).
- "Black napkins", the C# pedal bars: C# minor and C# Dorian (A versus A#; see my remarks below the "Pink napkins" example).
- "Wind up working in a gas station", solo: D Dorian and D Mixolydian (F versus F#).
- "Filthy habits": F minor/C minor and F Phrygian/C Phrygian (G/Gb versus D/Db).
- "Big leg Emma": E major, Mixolydian and Dorian (D versus D#, as well as G versus G#).
- "Ship ahoy": D Dorian and D Mixolydian (F versus F#).
- "Paroxysmal splendor (Ten years after)": A Dorian and Mixolydian (C versus C#).
- "Stink-foot" (1974-78): C Mixolydian and C Dorian (E versus Eb).
- "While you were out": D Dorian and D Mixolydian (F versus F#; only mentioned in the Shut up 'n play yer guitar section; see the Guitar book for the transcription of this solo).
- "The deathless horsie": C# minor and C# Dorian (A versus A#).
- "Stevie's spanking" solo bars: A Dorian and A Mixolydian (C versus C#).
- "Theme from Sinister footwear III": F Lydian and F major (B versus Bb).
- "In-a-gadda-Stravinsky": see above.
- "Orrin Hatch on skis": D Dorian and D Mixolydian (F versus F#).
- "Ride my face to Chicago": idem (only mentioned in my YCDTOSA section).
- "Strictly genteel": D Lydian and D major (G# versus G).
- "Ask dr. Stupid": F# Dorian and F# Mixolydian (A versus A#).
- "Dance me this": F Mixolydian and F major (Eb versus E).

In his discussion with me you can read that Brett Clement doesn't approve of this approach saying: "In sum, I would say that Sloots is overstating the importance of some of these scalar discrepancies. In most of these examples, there is indeed a primary scale, and the other note is simply chromatic or a blues coloration".
It's not possible to name a rule for when you're seeing a note as an altered note and when you can say it becomes using a different scale. When a note appears altered a couple of times it doesn't have consequences for identifying a scale. But when the numbers of appearances of a note as natural or as flat/sharp tend to approach each other, I'm inclined to call it a mingling of scales. The difference isn't sharp, but I noticed this tendency enough times to take it into account as one of the characteristics of Zappa's music. In case of for instance the opening from "Echidna's arf of you" you can clearly see that the A and A# are being used as equal. In case of the "Think it over" guitar solo the Dorian B happens twice as much as the Aeolian Bb, but also in situations like this one might consider calling it a mingling of closely related scales. A probable secondary reason why Brett doesn't like this idea, is that it doesn't suit his theory well. He's giving musicological reasons why Zappa would prefer some scales and avoid some others. When Zappa can be switching between scales as easily as I'm suggesting here, examples could also easily switch between being in favour or against Brett's claims. From my perspective it only underscores Zappa's flexibility.
Peculiar is Brett's remark about my inclusion of Can't afford no shoes (solo) in my Mixolydian list, saying "standard blues playing; not clearly Dorian or Mixolydian". While he himself lists it as Dorian only. Something similar he says about "The Gumbo variations" in my Dorian list: "this is simply the blues scale in G, not clearly Dorian or Mixolydian". Apparently Brett does at least sometimes recognize the below. It's human nature to mostly pick the key that suits your theory best.

My transcribed bars from:	My interpretation	Brett
- The Gumbo variations	G Mixolydian and Dorian	G Dorian (Blues)
- Get a little	E Dorian and Mixolydian	E Dorian
- Fifty-fifty (interlude)	C Mixolydian and Dorian	Dominant ninth chords
- idem	Db Mixolydian, major and Lydian	idem
- Echidna's arf of you (opening)	E major and Lydian	E Lydian
- idem	B minor and Dorian	B minor
- All skate	A major, Mixolydian and Dorian	A Dorian (Blues)
- Inca roads (opening)	C major and Lydian	C Lydian
- Can't afford no shoes (solo)	E Mixolydian and Dorian	E Dorian
- Carolina hard-core ecstasy (1984 opening)	C major and Lydian	C Lydian
- RDNZL (solo)	A major and Lydian	A Lydian
- Phyniox	Ab major and Lydian	Ambiguous
- Black napkins	C# minor and Dorian	C# Dorian
- Wind up working in a gas station (solo)	D Dorian and Mixolydian	Pentatonic
- Filthy habits	F/C minor and Phrygian	F/C Dorian and Phrygian
- Big leg Emma (interlude)	E major, Mixolydian and Dorian	E Dorian (Blues)
- Ship ahoy	D Dorian and Mixolydian	D Dorian
- Stink-foot	C Mixolydian and Dorian	C Dorian
- While you were out	D Dorian and Mixolydian	D Dorian
- The deathless horsie	C# minor and Dorian	C# minor and Dorian
- Stevie's spanking (solo)	A Dorian and Mixolydian	A Mixolydian
- Theme from Sinister footwear III (section)	F Lydian and major	F Lydian
- In-a-gadda-Stravinsky	D major, Dorian, Mixolydian and Lydian	Polyscalar
- Orrin Hatch on skis	D Dorian and Mixolydian	D Mixolydian
- Strictly genteel	D Lydian and major	D Lydian and major
- Ask dr. Stupid	F# Dorian and Mixolydian	F# Mixolydian
- Dance me this	F Mixolydian and major	F Mixolydian

Mostly I'm concentrating on the transcribed bars/note examples in my study. Sometimes a Guitar book is available with a complete song. In case of Sinister footwear III and Orrin Hatch on skis I'm saying this in relation to my example. In these solos as a whole Lydian, respectively Mixolydian, indeed dominate. Somewhat related to this are situations where one of the 7 diatonic notes is missing, like the Overture from "200 Motels". For lack of anything better I'm calling this piece C Ionian or Lydian. It's better than saying undecided, which could mean anything, or hexatonic, which doesn't specify the notes involved.

2.3 But who was Fulcanelli?

"But who was Fulcanelli?" is a pedal note solo. I miswrote myself in the 5th pdf edition calling it E Lydian. In Brett Clement's Response to me it's correcty present in my list of Mixolydian examples. According to Brett it's an outtake from a "Drowning witch" solo, normally being in B Dorian (see my Drowning witch section for a confirmation of the latter). Brett therefore lists it as Dorian with a question mark, adding possibly E Mixolydian by a pedal substitution. So E Mixolydian it certainly is for this track as it appears on "Guitar".

But who was Fulcanelli?, 1:23-1:34 (midi file).

But who was Fulcanelli?, 1:23-1:34 (transcription).

The example above is a small outtake of four bars from this solo, being played half way. Notable is the extensive use of triplets by all parts. Bar 4 is an example of the difficult rhythmic groupings you can get at, when Zappa is playing fast, and as fast as possible for a moment.

2.4 For Duane

"For Duane" is a pedal note solo in A Dorian. It's accompaniment is elementary, applying a traditional figure from blues songs, as is also done at the beginning of "200 years old". Here it goes as A-D-C-A. It gets repeated without much variation and at various instances with some faint keyboard harmony notes. Pretty much in the manner of "I'm a man" or "Mannish boy" by London, McDaniel and McKinley Morgenfield. Zappa is playing over it rather fast, making the overall character of this solo kind of rough.

For Duane, opening bars (midi file).

For Duane, opening bars (transcription).

The example above contains the opening bars with two times the complete accompanying figure. I've notated this figure as two times 12/16, but other meter choices are possible too. Staff two contains some vaguely audible scratched and feedback notes. In the example the F# from the A Dorian scale isn't present. Zappa largely avoids this note, but it can be heard in the background harmonies. He himself plays the F# at for instance 2:50-2:51.

2.5 GOA

Goa "GOA" is a pedal note solo in D Mixolydian, though the guitar solo part itself is at various points chromatic. "Republicans" (above), "Canadian customs" (below) and "GOA" have as a common characteristic that they are accompanied by a steady chord by the rhythm guitar. Sequently they are D#, Em-5 and Asus4. Their rhythms vary. On "Republicans" it becomes a reggae beat, on "Canadian customs" it's an ongoing stream of eighth notes.

GOA, 1:13-1:41 (midi file).

GOA, 1:13-1:41 (transcription).

In "GOA" it gets more complicated. Whereas the bass and drum are playing in regular 4/4, the rhythm guitar plays a constant figure in an odd rhythm. By itself it gets counted as "One-two-three-four-and" with the "and" standing for the addition of a 16th note to the four eighth notes. Zappa is reported to have said that "GOA" isn't an abbreviation, but the province of Goa in India. If so then the capitals caused some confusion (photo to the right by KS). The solo has no Indian flavour to it, but "Strat Vindaloo" does. See the documentaries section for the latter solo and Eastern influences upon Zappa's music.

2.6 Winos do not march

3) Solos over two alternating chords.

"Winos do not march" is in G Mixolydian, using two alternating chords: VII-I. It sounds very close to I-II in F Lydian, a far more common chord progression in Zappa's music, creating some sort of audio-illusion. I didn't hear this right two times in a row. Only when transcribing the opening I noticed the bass pedal is G for both chords, which must also have been the reason for Brett Clement to call it G Mixolydian in his Response to me. Both Brett and me let these bass pedal notes determine the key, something which Brett calls the "vertical" approach. "Horizontally", that is concentrating on the chord progression, some people might still call it I-II in F Lydian.

Winos do not march, 0:00-0:13 (midi file).

Winos do not march, 0:00-0:13 (transcription).

This solo begins with a couple of sustained glissando notes as transcribed above. Notable is the relatively large duration of the chords: four bars per chord. The example above contains only one alternation of 8 bars, before the first chord returns in bar 9. In bar 6 the G chord gets interrupted by a shortly returning F chord.

As mentioned above, there are few examples of solos over two alternating chords on "Guitar". "Winos do not march" and "Systems of edges" are in fact the only two. But you can check the dozen of examples from other CDs in this study:

"Holiday in Berlin, full blown", "Holiday in Berlin" solo (1970), "Orange County" solo from "Roxy and elsewhere", "Inca roads" solo from "YCDTOSA II", "Black napkins", "RDNZL", "Any downers? (1975)", "Bowling on Charen" second example, "King Kong" solo from "Odeon Hammersmith", "Yo' mama" second half, "Pink napkins", "Shut up 'n play yer guitar", "Gee, I like your pants", "Shut up 'n play yer guitar some more", "Return of the son of Shut up 'n play yer guitar", "Pick me, I'm clean" (Buffalo version), "Occam's razor", "The black page" (1988), "A cold dark matter".

2.7 Swans? What swans?

"Swans? What swans?" is a solo in Lydian, this time Bb Lydian over a Bb pedal note. Other than "For Duane" from above, this one is pacific, especially in passages as the one transcribed below.

Swans? What swans?, 0:36-0:53 (midi file).

Swans? What swans?, 0:36-0:53 (transcription).

The piece begins brightly in 4/4. Below it's going in a syncopic way at various points. It's mostly the drummer, who's maintaining the downbeat. Zappa is playing gently and slowly, sometimes simply pausing, while the band is forming some sort of harmonic field with different chords. Because everybody is improvising all kinds of combinations can come up. The band got trained to get accustomed to Zappa's attitude towards harmonies and, in situations like this, this is paying off. At the beginning of bar 6 the bass is for instance playing a stacked fourth downwards. At the beginning of bar 7 it's a standard triad.

2.8 Too ugly for show business

"Too ugly for show business" begins as a solo with a little vamp by the bass player, but once Zappa starts soloing, this vamp flattens and evolves more like a pedal note, being played around a bit. The example below contains bars 9-12 from this piece with the start of the guitar part. It's in D Mixolydian. Because the band has already been playing for eight bars, the pattern is known by everybody. For this reason it can happen that everybody is avoiding the downbeat at the beginning of bar 10. This also involves the drummer (not included in the transcription).

Too ugly for show business, bars 9-12 (midi file).

Too ugly for show business, bars 9-12 (transcription).

In Guitar Player, October 1995, Zappa commented:
- GP: "There are three or four bars at the very beginning [of Heavy duty Judy] before you hear a downbeat."
- FZ: "Right. And if you're oriented to 4/4 music, that's going to disturb you. But music doesn't always have to land on the downbeat of every bar. It's just totally unnecessary - there's no gold-plated rule anyplace in the universe saying that must occur. You can tap your foot to it and hear the harmonic rhythm - the harmonic line that keeps coming back - but the rhythmic line doesn't have to match it. There is such a thing as a hemiola, where you play across the bar. And you've got hemiolas to death, for days, in those three [Shut up 'n play yer guitar] albums."

2.9 Systems of edges

As already mentioned, "Systems of edges", is the second solo from "Guitar" with a chord alternation. The first bar in 2/4 instead of 4/4 isn't an intentional different meter or a pick-up bar. It comes from Zappa starting the tape half-way a bar.

Systems of edges, 0:00-0:20 (midi file).

Systems of edges, 0:00-0:20 (transcription).

The solo begins unusually relaxed. The fun part of this solo is that Zappa is gradually playing faster and faster, while the bass maintains its calm I-II alternation in C Lydian. Between 2:35 and 3:09 this combination almost becomes a form of insanity with Zappa playing as fast as he can. The bass, keyboards and drums are staying calm as if nothing special is going on. See the "Budapest" solo from the documentaries section for how that looks on paper.

2.10 Do not try this at home

"Do not try this at home" is the second solo on "Guitar" with the "Them or us" flavour to it. In a diatonic environment, these three solos are the most brutal ones as it comes to guitar effects, altering notes and dissonants. It makes it difficult to reproduce them on paper and in midi format. The midi file below doesn't represent all effects properly.

Do not try this at home, end (midi file).

Do not try this at home, end (transcription).

The example above are the five final bars of this solo, to be heard between 3:28 and 3:46. Bars 1-2 are in normal Bb Lydian. The accompaniment continues like this during bars 3-5, while Zappa is using that many altered notes, that he is pushing this composition towards atonality. Notable are also the wide distances between notes, spread out over the almost total guitar range in standard tuning. The final bar lasting 10/8 isn't a musical meter change, it is caused by cutting off the tape.

2.11 Things that look like meat

4) Solos that are using a vamp.

"Things that look like meat" has a vamp in G Dorian. Musical vamps are constantly repeated accompanying figures. In this study I'm calling something a vamp when there's a melodic and/or rhythmic element to it. Alternating chords might also be called vamps, but in Zappa's music they can better be seen as a category by themselves.

Things that look like meat, end (midi file).

Things that look like meat, end (transcription).

Zappa in 1982 This vamp is a bass figure of two bars, appearing in a couple of rhythmical shapes. During the first bar the G gets followed by a C, towards the end in the manner of bars 1 and 3 from the example from above. The second bar in this example moves more freely from E to G, with the transition from the first bar to the second often being syncopic. "Things that look like meat" is a solo having a composed coda, uncommon in Zappa's output. So I've transcribed the end in this case, 6:24 through 6:46, after which the CD continues with the audience applauding till 6:57. In the example the coda comprises bars 5-13. It remains in G Dorian till the very end, when a chromatic line ends with evading to an F7 chord. On top of Eb it implies a modulation to Eb Lydian, but it simply ends with this chord as such. Zappa liked to end songs with deceptive cadences like that during the eighties. See also my comment upon "Outrage at Valdez" in the documentaries section. During the coda the shape of the vamp is returning to the form it had at the beginning of the solo.

Solos using a vamp in this study are:

"Speed-freak boogie", "Bossa Nova pervertamento", "Mondo Hollywood", "No waiting for the peanuts to dissolve", "Chunga's basement", "Funky nothingness", "The grand wazoo" solo section, "Imaginary diseases" solo (the vamp starts in the third bar), "Pygmy twylyte", examples 2-3 (bass pattern), "Stink-foot" solo, "Duke of prunes" (1975, guitar solo bars), "Phyniox" (a solo following a modulation scheme, combined with the use of vamps), "Reeny ra", "Keep it greasy", "Muffin man", "Filthy habits", "Cruising for burgers" (1976), "Conehead instrumental" (1977), "Conehead" (1978), "On the bus", "Watermelon in Easter hay", "Canarsie", "Treacherous cretins", "The deathless horsie" first example, "In-a-gadda-Stravinsky" first example, "That ol' G minor thing again", "Sunrise redeemer", "Orrin Hatch on skis", "Things that look like meat", "Heavy duty Judy (1988)", "Zomby woof" (1988), "Strat Vindaloo", "Ask dr. Stupid", "Scratch & sniff", "Trance-fusion", "Soul polka", "Diplodocus", "Light is all that matters".

2.12 Watermelon in Easter hay

"Watermelon in Easter hay" is probably Zappa's most famous solo, using a vamp. It's available in three versions:
- "Joe's garage": this version of "Watermelon in Easter hay" has been transcribed in full in The FZ Guitar book. The coda is included in the Joe's garage section.
- "Guitar": the theme of this execution from the 1984 tour is included in the Joe's garage section as well. It goes a little different from the first release on "Joe's garage".
- "Hammersmith Odeon": this ZFT release contains a much different version, presented as "Watermelon in Easter hay (prequel)". A section from this "prequel" is presented in the Sheik Yerbouti section from this study.

2.13 Canadian customs

"Canadian customs" starts off as a pedal note solo upon F sharp, but after a minute the bass player has worked towards a riff, that will keep vamping for the remainder of the solo. Right at the beginning there's no meter yet. As you can see in the transcription it takes a couple of seconds before the bass sets the meter to 4/4.

Canadian customs, opening (midi file).

Canadian customs, opening (transcription).

"Canadian customs" is chromatic in a way comparable to "Republicans". There are no diatonic scales used, but both the bass and the solo guitar tend to use sets of notes over longer periods. See above also above at "GOA" for steady accompanying chords.

2.14 Is that all there is?

"Is that all there is?" is a pedal note solo in C Lydian. As I've been pointing at in the Shut up 'n play yer guitar section, there's a relationship between the choice of scales and the type of accompaniment. In case of chord alternations, there's a preference for Lydian, while upon pedal notes Lydian stays behind Dorian and Mixolydian. To me these are statistical facts only. That is when Zappa's doing something occurring less frequently, it sounds quite normal too. Relatively many (7) pedal note solos on "Guitar" are in Lydian, not at all sounding unusual.

Is that all there is?, 0:30-0:49 (midi file).

Is that all there is?, 0:30-0:49 (transcription).

"Is that all there is?" is an unusual solo regarding its sound. The keyboard is present almost as loud as the other instruments, while keyboards are usually playing in the background during Zappa's solos. So it becomes to sound as a jazz quartet: guitar, keyboard, drums and bass. Zappa normally credits the full band playing, also when they're hardly audible or edited out, so I can't tell if it's Tommy Mars or Bobby Martin on keyboards.

2.15 It ain't necessarily the Saint James infirmary

"Guitar" ends with a cover, with Zappa beginning a solo with citing music from two American classic songs, one written by George and Ira Gershwin, the other by Jim Pimrose. The vamp, that's being used here, is also present in what I'm calling block V of the 1982 "King Kong" execution, that you can hear on "YCDTOSA Vol. III". See the corresponding section from this study for a short description and some transcribed bars. At this point it's not a cover, but directly attributable to Zappa.

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