Frank Zappa started to be involved in music when he was a teenager, in the 1950’s. He began to write classical music when he was in high school, but at the same time he would also started to play the drums in bands of rhythm and blues. After, he would changed to electric guitar, which he will maintain as his main instrument. He always was a self-taught composer and performer. Zappa was influenced by a large range of music genres such as R&B, classical music, rock, jazz, orchestra, and many more. He was also influenced by different musicians such as Varèse, Igor Stravinsky, Anton Webern, between many others. As a musician, Zappa created a musical legacy; he was an outstanding leader band, composer, and performer in his music concerts. Zappa was very disciplined and devoted to his work and also with his musicians.
Besides his artistic vision, Zappa also included an important political analysis and concern to most of his songs and it will also distinguished him and his music later on. Zappa developed a strong criticism towards the society he was living in at the time and “the plastic culture,” as he emphasized in many of his songs. He attempted to communicate his different points of view about the society by trying to “infiltrate” through his songs and other forms of art or media. Looking through Zappa’s lyrics, art, interviews and other kind of medias, we can see how he wanted to gain access to the audience so that they could improve their musical taste and also to experience a more complex way to listen to music and be able to understand all the symbolism that he created. For example, we can see how since his first album Freak Out (1966), Zappa was focused in many political aspects that would concerned him such as the U.S. education system, the American society and values, and other political matters of that time, which we can notice through the lyrics of the album.
