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Good Frank Zappa Bass?

M

MusicBertrand

Dec 4, 2010
3
0
36
#1
Hi, this is my very first thread :)

I really like Frank Zappa's music, and i was just wondering ... what are good, challenging tunes for bass to learn by Frank Zappa?

I'm looking to improve my technique as well as my hearing/sight singing through Zappa. (not reading)

thanks in advance! (and i hope im in the right section)
 
#2
Roxy & Elsewhere (Echidna's Arf (Of You)
One Size Fits All
etc.... etc.....

Love what Scott Thunes did for Frank.

P Bass or Jazz bass works well for his tunes.

You really cant go wrong with anything Frank did. His music was genius.
 
#3
I enjoy playing Advance Romance. It's mostly pentatonic, but goes in unpredictable directions. (What? Not Zappa! ;)) I accidentally "found" a bit of the Floretine Pogen riff recently when I was noodling, so I kind of want to learn that. Actually, as suggested by gravebass, the entire One Size Fits All record has some great, funky playing courtesy of Tom Fowler. Echidna's Arf is a cool suggestion if you've got the chops. I suspect that one's beyond me.
 
#6
bongomania said:
Start with The Black Page, and work your way down from there.
Click to expand...

Presumably you're suggesting OP learn the melody to "The Black Page" ...the bass line to that piece is actually pretty pedestrian.

But playing a thorny Zappa melody on bass has some impressive precedent: During his very brief tenure in Zappa's band, Jeff Berlin had to learn the melody to "Be-bop Tango (Of The Old Jazzman's Church)", a real knuckle-buster that's almost as rhythmically convoluted as "The Black Page". Would love to have heard that.
 
#8
Check out "Does Humor Belong In Music" with Scott Thunes in the band. The bass is pretty clear in the mix. "What's New In Baltimore" has a killer intro, and their version of "Whipping Post" has some great variations on the standard bassline for the tune.

Slightly off-topic - if you're getting into Zappa and you haven't already, check out Mike Keneally. He was Zappa's last guitar player, and he has a lot of cool Zappa information on his website, including the story of how he got in the band, and his tour diaries from 1988.
 
#9
Roscoe East said:
Presumably you're suggesting OP learn the melody to "The Black Page" ...the bass line to that piece is actually pretty pedestrian.
Click to expand...
Actually I was just being a smartass, suggesting the most difficult Zappa sheet music I'd seen. TBH, I had not even attempted to play it, so I did not know that the bass line was easy! :p
 

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