Just waiting for work shirts to finish washing...(blog time!)...So I was driving with Pete (THUS drummer) yesterday and I figured it wastime for this guy to experience Zappa. Recently I legally obtained a copy of 'Zappa Plays Zappa', a new live record which does absolute hjustice to Frank, performed by his son Dweezil (someboidy slap Joan Rivers wherever she is please?). We listened to some great tunes; Peaches of Regalia, St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast, The Torture Never Stops, etc. The night before, we'd been discussing the use of power chords with a 2 note (second note in the scale of the key soignature) added on top. These are engaging chords. The use of the 2 note is very useful in music, filling in emotional space without making it feel to dramatic. It turns out Zappa has songs which have 2nd notes on every triad, replacing the 3rd. And it defined his sound. You'll hear some in peches of Regalia if you listen to the whole thing. Funny enough, you'll hear it in songs by artists like Staind to. Mirror Studies, for those of you who were there for it, made immense use of this note. Actually every song they wrote had it. The point is that it's a really useful tool in conveying emotion to a listener. People don't use it often in popluar music, though recently I've heard more. On the other hand, the ones who have cracked the code and found it tend to over use it. If you use this note in your music, my suggestion would be to only use it as 'the eyebrows.' Over sugaring your cake or coffee makes you go UGH. This applies to music to (duh). Just trying to expose a little trick for you songwriters to play with. Later-
M
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