Trendmonger wrote:
tiboudre wrote:
The fact that Dweezil hasn't learned to read music after doing this for 6 years is a little suspect to me.
The only suspect is an individuals mind that does not comprehend the level of due diligence Dweezil Zappa puts into getting the music done up to the standards of the composer.
Dweezil has stated he would have liked to have learned to read music at an earlier age in life. While he may not be able to sight read blindly like a Kung Fu master that just makes learning the parts that much more time consuming. Pointedly, in the parts Dweezil has learned, he has done so with the proficiency of any musician that has ever played the guitar or performed Frank's music on any stage.
The perverted idea of pushing any performance achievements into the
"suspect" category is preposterous. Dweezil Zappa is not the only musician that has reached the pinnacle of performance achievements by ear. Steve Howe
(Yes, Asia, GTR , Tomorrow) performs by ear. It's a testament to achievement of what the well tuned ear can do. I find it fitting that Frank Zappa's interest in Steve Howe's performance on Tomorrow's Claramount Lake, early 1967. Dweezil Zappa and Steve Howe are prime examples of remarkable performance achievements in a wide variety of musical styling. They both perform in a wide variety of styles and put in lots of time and effort into doing what they do. From my point of view it's more about achievement than even considering the notion of anything being suspect about how it gets done.
Believe me, as a fellow musician / arranger / composer / Zappa fanatic, I know the amount of work Dweezil has put into ZPZ. I have a tremendous amount of respect for him and his work ethic. And judging by his performances, he does learn and execute those compositions very effectively. However, if one were to buy in to the COMPLETE FZ package (guitarist, bandleader, arranger, transcriber, catalogue, etc.), you may want to include sightreader into that list of skills as well. Have you ever tried to perform and transcribe The Black Page? Drowning Witch? Inca Roads? I'll wait...
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