Post by rayd on 05/24/23 at 08:46:48
Steve was at Berklee while I was there although a year ahead of me. I didn't know him nor of him at the time (there were hundreds of guitarists at the school) but I remember buying "The Frank Zappa Guitar Book" - and pouring over the guitar solo transcriptions Steve did. Love Five-Five-FIVE (I believe alternated between 2-bars of 5/8 then 5/4 IIRC). I still have that book somewhere in the attic. Amazing work!
Five-Five-FIVE · Frank Zappa
Shut Up And Play Yer Guitar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7TWtcpO1zE
https://www.zappa-analysis.com/five-five-five.htm
The opening chord parts are very easy to play actually:
From: https://www.zappa-analysis.com/shut-up-n-play-yer-guitar.htm
"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 FZ 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 its name). It's a progression of chords all using the open D and G string of the guitar as pedal notes, upon which the same chord type is played through keys 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. The origins of "Five-five-FIVE" go back to 1975, when this sequence was played using 5/8 only. In this study an example of this type of soloing during a "Chunga's revenge" performance is included in the FZ:OZ section.
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 upon 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. When 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". "