The Musician / Performer: An Introduction

Throughout his life Zappa was drawn to two very different genres of music: R&B and the old School of Vienna composers. He appreciated both styles and used a fusion of the two as inspiration when composing his own pieces.

When his first marriage began to fall apart in the mid sixties Zappa moved into his Studio Z in Cucamonga. With almost nonexistent clientele Zappa spent the hours in studio experimenting with instruments, creating new sounds and pushing his music further and further into the bizarre and outlandish.

His musicianship grew and all he wanted to do was play classical music. In May of 1963 he actually held a concert of some of his orchestral music performed by the Student Orchestra of Mount St. Mary’s. However, this was a rare pleasure. As Zappa once said, “I never had any intention of writing rock music. I always wanted to compose more serious music and have it performed in concert halls, but I knew no one would play it. So I figured that if anyone was ever going to hear anything I composed, I’d have to get a band together and play rock music. That’s how I got started.” (Miles p.91)

It is evident that Zappa had a deeply rooted love and respect for music and was willing to sacrifice whatever he had to in order to be a musician and performer.