Frank Zappa's Favorite Chord Progression
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- Опубліковано 25 чер 2024
- Let's examine a chord progression that's all over Frank Zappa's music. Some of the examples may even surprise you!
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All of my Zappa breakdowns - • Tyler Bartram - Zappa ...
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0:00 Intro
0:54 Stepwise Root Movement in FZ's Music
3:21 The "Black Napkins" Progression
4:55 Minor up to Major
15:56 Minor down to Major
19:25 Major up to Minor
24:39 Major down to Minor
36:15 Outro
no, we do not talk enough about how insane of a musician george duke was.
It's time for Santana to solo over Frank Zappa's Secret Chord Progression!
I started learning Zappa's songs by ear when Freak Out! was released. I didn't get any analysis of Zappa in music school, oddly. This is a joy! I never really knew what his quirks and preferences were until now. Thank-you!
Freak Out, what a masterpiece!
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!!!
Pure intellectual and musical joy ... MORE MORE MORE please !
We speak your name
This video series has been great not just for the technical details but also for learning about really fun live versions of some of my favorite Zappa tunes. Quality work as always, man, can't wait to see what you have for us next
Thank you so much!
I can’t always follow everything happening but the high quality screen caps of Zappa Melodies alone make your videos worth their weight in gold. Practice time just got a lot less frustrating
Holy crap all these new Zappa videos people are making are amazing
The more I learn about Zappa, the deeper his musical genius grows. An extraordinary human being.
Fantastic stuff,I'm sure I'll be watching this over and over.Saw Uncle.Frank over 35 times from 73-88 all of them in NYC or surrounding areas,every Halloween,3 of 4 Christmas shows,The Ritz where I got to stand third row in front of him,his solos that night in that little club were simply amazing. I can still remember the first night I saw him at 13,that first note of Penguins was like nothing I heard before.
I'm so jealous! The Ritz show is my all-time favorite FZ show!
@@TylerBartram it absolutl is and I was standing 3rd row in front of Unce Frank.He was extremely loud but the sound was clear and and well balanced.Frank was on Fire that night with his guitar,during Drowning witch,he was going crazy feeding back and controlling it. I'm not a big Hendrix fan ,but I could swear I saw him flying around the room when Frank used Jimis old burnt guitar on Drowning Witch DeMeola as special guest ,Vai in the band. Really the sound was incrediblely clear and your heart was pounding with the mudic.Frank definatly made the walls crack. My friend and I couldn't even talk about it for 2 days. The only thing I Saud to him was "do you realize we just saw the greatest Zappa show there will ever be. He agreed and we just drove the hour home not talking and just getting high.When his older brother came back from Florida the next week oh how we teased him about him missing the greatest Zappa show ever.
@@TylerBartram Oh yeah! Al DiMeola playing on Ride Like the Wind sung by Brian Peters the drum roadie. Tax the churches! My favorite also.
This is another example of how Zappa was kinda fully formed in his ability to construct this type of harmonic content from an early age. It could be argued with a lot of musicians that they start simple and get more complex (like the Beatles for instance) but Zappa was like this from the get go. I love your breakdowns Tyler. They allow me to appreciate Franks music on more levels than I thought possible. Can't wait for the Drowning Witch video! :)
Well he still got more complex over the years if you look at his orchestral works and synclavier pieces
@@Zappafantrust I think more adventurous rather than complex. The Synclavier allowed him to realise the music he hoped to achieve with orchestra and rock band that eluded him until then (he said do in an interview I saw a long time ago now). Maybe complex was the wrong word to use.
Drowning Witch would be an amazing breakdown.
Kinda of fully formed? Zappa would've hated that description. He was of course different things at different times. The less complex his rock band became the more complicated his classical work became. You might want to check out what Boulez is quoted as saying about the quality of Frank's composition.
@@JohnLloydDavis "It could be argued with a lot of musicians that they start simple and get more complex (like the Beatles for instance)"
That is misconception about The Beatles and their growth as composers/tunesmiths.
"She Loves You" is their early song but from the drum roll at the start to the last Yeah Yeah Yeahs in the first 12 seconds they use 11 of the 12 notes in music.
It is G-F#-E notes in them Yeah Yeah, Yeahs refrain
Ex, F# in 2nd Yeah is non-chord tone.
It is chromatically against supporting chord and it creates dissonance that is resolved when a chord tone resumes on the following 3rd Yeah.
Edit: They, Lennon-McCartney were doing all kinds of clever things from early on.
My gosh what a musical genius he was 😎👍🙏❤️
I love how he used the name Läther instead of the name on Zappa in NY, "I promise not to come in your mouth"
And again, the conceptual continuity goes on...
This is the chord progression of the forest outside the castle in Chrono Trigger
Yeah Drowning Witch part included!!! Amazing Tyler
Dude-channel-host-guy this makes me so happy. Glad that Zappology is still alive, and smells funny. Subbed hard, with garlic and eyebrows.
I absolutely LOVE all your Zappa content. I'm essentially a failed guitarist...I know just enough theory to be dangerous so I appreciate the lessons even though they fly over my head sometimes. I have been watching your videos since it was just (very impressive) guitar covers. Speaking of which, I understand your channel is your own, but I wanted to watch that awesome guitar rendition of the main melody of 'Night School' again and noticed its removal. I wonder if you would consider putting some of that awesome guitar material back up. Again I will continue to be eagerly consume all your content no matter the topic, you have proven in spades your content is valuable.
Please TB never stop blabbering.
Just learning about the construction of music from this fantastic modern composer is awesome
Makes me wonder if he covered "I Am The Walrus" because he liked the stepwise motion of the chords...
Definitely did! ua-cam.com/video/aLNRhSZKzYo/v-deo.html&feature=share9
That "Dog Breath" example of chromatic voice leading in contrary motion, is also called Wedge progression on the Post Tonal music... the term Omnibus progression was used also in Tonal context... I was curious about it, if this chromatic ideas reveals some degree of symmetry and asymmetry on Zappa's music in different contexts...
So good! Thank you!!
YAY another Tyler Video!
Excellent!
Another great one Tyler!
Great insights thank you.
Great video!
omg theyre back!!!! idk what happened there but thank the lords, i thought these vids were gone forever
So when’s the Greggery Peccary video coming?
Very helpful insights. Thx a lot 😊
Every video is a complete masterpiece thanks tyler
Great analysis!
Thanks
Your Zappa videos are gold
Fantastic Tyler. I'll be watching this one over and over.
Another solid vid! I have delved deep into Zappa this past year and these videos are amazing.
Great video
Beautifully presented 👏 cheers
Excellent analysis video! Thanks!!!!
Great !
I just wanted to say thanks. Dang! Your presentations are so nicely done.
What a ride! Featuring examlles oh boy
I'm impressed and grateful for this analysis. Subscribed.
Merci beaucoup for this.
Wow! ❤
Great analysis, huge amount of work you’ve put into this, well done
Oh wow, it really is everywhere in his music 😅😅😂😂fantastic!
Hey man, your videos are awesome. I hope you come out with new stuff sometime. Great stuff dude, super thorough!
dude, these videos are amazing. i love learning about how zappad music work, and the extremely high quality of these videos is an awesome added bonus. cant wait for more!
The thing with mixing E and F makes sense from a guitar perspective, because to go up or down a half step only requires slightly moving your fingers, and E minor is about the simplest chord to play on guitar.
Great video and great channel. Frank Zappa's music is unique and fun. Bravo
Amazingly detailed analysis.
You obviously play and i daresay well.
Thankyou
丁寧な説明ありがとうございます。
Besides being informative about Frank's music, this is full of great leads for as of yet officially released great sounding shows to search out and listen to. 🤘👍
This is great. I don’t think about this stuff a lot but I write stuff moving this way often. Maybe Zappa subliminally influenced my chordal movement
Missed opportunity "Another one is from the Grammy Award winning record 'Jazz from Hell' the song Night School" i can't stop laughing when i think about that fact. It's insane. What were they thinking?! Did they even listen to the stuff? It's unlistenable to the majority of people! Even Frank's most "normal songs" are hard on most listeners. Frank had a wish for songs. In an interview with Arsenio Hall he said he didn't like love lyrics and wanted something where they sang what they really want to do, stick it in there. So i did! It ended up being my greatest ballad song i've ever written and all the guitar stuff i'm especially proud of. 'Stick It In', Thanks for the lyrical suggestion Frank! I hope he get's to 'Stick It In' up there and that he likes the music in Rock'n Roll Heaven
any kind of pain is my favorite solo
No one but Frank could have done that solo. Every note is perfect.
This is interesting, because for years I've said (not based on interviews, just my own listening) that Frank's favorite chord progression is the Inca Roads/Holiday in Berlin two-chord progression. Two major chords a whole step apart, traditionally implying IV and V of a major scale, but actually used as a Lydian I-II or a Mixolydian VII-I depending on whether he's soloing in Lydian or playing blues licks. There's a lot of ambiguity there to mess with. I haven't analyzed Zappa's music to any comparable degree to these videos, but I feel like I've heard a lot more of his solos over this progression than the Black Napkins chords.
Yes, good observation. And you alluded to an important distinction which is that he uses that progression (which Brett Clement calls the "Lydian-Mixolydian Oscillation") more for his solos - Inca Roads, RDNZL, Outside Now, Son Of Orange County, etc. - as opposed to the Black Napkins progression which seems to be a device used mostly elsewhere (unlike Any Kind Of Pain, for example, which uncoincidentally is one that does not change the mode each chord, making it easier for Zappa to solo over).
So definitely on the surface the Lydian-Mixolydian Oscillation would be a good choice as the "favorite" (and that's just a silly word I used so people will click on this) considering it's strong association with Zappa and his solos. But with over 30 examples of the Black Napkins progression I'd say it certainly challenges that claim!
@Tyler Bartram My ear hears the similarity between the Inca Roads vamp and the "major down to minor" (any kind of pain) vamp. I've always thought of the latter as an 80s reharm/sub of the 2nd chord. I.e. F - G is now F - Em7. To me it still has the ascending quality because the 2nd
@@fuzztony3940 Yeah, good point about the relative major/minor there!
You're a very great explainer !👍👏💕
Subscribed.
#QualityContent
I knew FZ had an affinity for chromatic chord progressions (like Naval Aviation In Art?) but I didn't realize it was so prevalent.
Yup.
Saw this and the Alien O one today. Fun! On this one I was surprised that there was no citation of what I think of as his Ur major to/from minor tune: Duke of Prunes (my favorite recording of it - the Ponty.Duke “Low Budget Orchestra” version; instead of head-solo, there’s a good Ponty solo followed by a great piano solo by G Duke leading to the melody. I can’t attach a lead sheet here but the as the melody winds out it puts huge tension on the minor second. So effective. Also happens to be one of so many examples of what sounds like a joke ‘throw away’ song by Zappa (on Absolutely Free) that in another context (i.e. without words) you see is a beautiful piece of music. Thanks Tyler!
Thank you for watching! Yes, a good example that definitely escaped me. Early Mothers are a bit of a blind spot for me sometimes!
If you have time, listen to that version of Low Budget Orch. It’s pretty different to the Studio Tan version. The latter is probably;y more successful and unified, but the earlier version has many charms. Nice work Tyler. Thanks for doing it. @@TylerBartram
Music is the best.
Hi! My name is Ignasi and I am a huuuge Zappa fan, Love your videos!!
I was wondering, which program do you use to make your videos? It's pretty impressive. Thanks!!
more more
hey man. Great Video. Where do you get this scores and transcriptions?
What about the Inca solo section? He used that a ton over the years as a soloing platform!
I love your videos. Do you transcribe any of his music yourself? You are lucky if you have the Munchkin music from the 90s. I lost my own copies, and there seems to be nothing else available.
Thanks! Most of the music in this video was transcribed.
Do a video on music from Burnt Weeny Sandwich and Weasels Tore My Flesh!
I'm super high rn I hope this isn't too direct @tyler ily for the zappa analyses videos
@@lemming7188 Lol you're good. Please keep the recommendations coming!
~ Ripped. *
PLEASE do one on Zomby Woof
Black Napkins first 2 chords feel like Speak no Evil's C minor i7to Db major 7 b5 as a sort of I to V (tritone sub) but with the more ethereal open sound of the maj 7. Call the maj 7 chord a "tritone sub. sub". Dbmaj 7 instead of a resolution demanding alt dominant/triton sub sound. It's easy to make the shift with your lines, and is "jazzy" The progression floats up a half step, and CAN go back to the i minor (Like in Speak No Evil) or it can float higher by half or whole steps. zappa likes floaty chord progressions over which to noodle, that are interesting to his ear, but not locked into the beboppy sounds, diatonic and resolution demanding .
Frank zappa is the best niche in music, and makes all other music seem obsolete.
3:48 4:06 4:25
It’s not so much that he doesn’t use thirds, but that he substitutes seconds for thirds.
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.
Didn't feel like watching the whole thing, but I hope you mentioned the Maj triad up a whole step Maj triad like in RDNZL, Inca Roads, etc. He loved that change it seemed.
The duck it all mean when i sign like zappa knowing nothing about zappa.
9:05 the lick?!?!?!
If you fully understand what Tyler says here or not….one thing is sure, Pop Music without Frank Zappa is crippled, I miss him badly.
Great videos man but could you slow it down a bit for all us old Zappa freaks here? I'm screen shotting and pausing like a Mother and still feel I am missing stuff.
isn’t vii usually followed by I ?
This video has helped me better understand why I don’t like most of Zappa’s music
Elaborate
Zappa had read Slonimsky's book "Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns" and called it ("the Bible of improvization").There are no rules in music.
His favourite chord progressions were allan holdsworths
im Pretty Sure his favorite Progression was 0-3-5
😮 really ? I always thought it was IV-V shut UP and play yer guitar progression FZ favorite 😅 lemme take you to the beach ...or V-IV mudd club 😊 Andy , who are the brain police , plastic people , apostrophe, stink foot, ms pinki, wonderfull wino, dirty love , outside now...😊
What about his least favorite
Good question... 🤔
V to I probably
l-lv-v?
You got one of the song titles wrong. It's Revised Music for Low-Budget Orchestra, not Symphony Orchestra.
No, I didn’t. Revised Music for Low Budget Symphony Orchestra is how FZ titles it on his score (which I used for this video). That name also appears on the Orchestral Favorites anniversary record but was changed for the Studio Tan album.
Zappa was my daily diet of music since I was 14 or so. It destroyed everything. I would not like to learn an instrument as all the music I could play was terribly boring compared to FZ´s music. :-) Sadly I did not have the talent and stamina of Warren Cuccurullo :-D
Where is the key notes signature right at start of pieces of music to say which major key the passage is in ? Would bloody help out what scale your using no signature
You always need a signature and if you use a different chord to start progression you can work out pretty simply
I found F.Z. Cd in a pile of garbage. I haven’t been disappointed
I could clearly see now why Rick Beato got trillions of subs, his signature gibson and interviews with music celebs. Because his channel is actually useless for those who are really searching and practicing what he had found.
I've been trying to like Zappa for years. Because some people tell me he's a musical genius. But all I hear is crap 😂
I respect Zappa as a musician but I really can't stand any of his music.
That's fine. It just means you still have things to learn in life. As we all do. Isn't that a wonderful prospect? :))
I’m up to 1:50 and already disagree with your analysis- that’s just bog standard diatonic pop chords. Nothing wrong with that but very mainstream, which he occasionally was, and not at all innovative.
He also loved to improv off 2 chords,C major to B flat major.Also 3/8 time, cruisin for burgers
This shit is awesome,but it’s making my brain hurt😂😂
Great analysis of Zappa. If you want some feedback, I think you could have made this one video into three or four smaller videos and recap at the beginning. It's a little theory heavy and I need time in between to digest each topic a little before moving forward. Again, great video and I look forward to seeing more.
I appreciate that! I'm very set in my "this must be one video" ways but it seems like people would enjoy them broken up into parts.
@@TylerBartram I don't see the benefit in multiple clips when the full video is already broken into chapters and viewers have a pause button if they need a break.
@@lepoisson more monetization
@@SpanishLibertarian Sure, but that's a separate argument. The original comment said that it's too much/too quick to digest. To which I said just hit pause.
I'll respectfully disagree here. The long, uninterrupted format allows for the depth of discussion. This is my favourite UA-cam channel for this reason! I'd literally buy these documentaries on DVD, they are that good. Please, Tyler, don't just become another "content creator". As Frank would say, "Keep what makes you unique."
Intellectually interesting but I’ll take a 1-4-5 blues that MOVES anyday