GUITAR WALTZ
This is a 12-tone crab canon written when I was 18. There's actually another version for two guitars, so it's a double crab canon. I don't know where it is though. I'd been doing 12-tone music for quite some time before I did this, but it was the first time I'd tried to write something for the guitar. I couldn't play it, and I never got to hear it until I got the Synclavier. And because it's printed on the Synclavier, that also means I got to push the button and listen to it. It's kind of short and boring "
-Frank Zappa
ZAPPA ORIGINAL SHEET MUSIC SIGNED c.1958 (Item #163538793)
Original sheet music written and signed by Frank Zappa comes with a copy of the thank you letter sent to Frank for giving such a nice present. Guaranteed original and in great condition.
From: anonymous contributor
A midi rendition of the piece as it appears above.Dennis Griffin sent this scan from the Keyboard/Guitar Player Magazine Zappa! special from 1992:
From: Michael Gula (2000-10-15)
Subject: Re: Brown Shoes Hardly Making It
Newsgroups: alt.fan.frank-zappa
In the piano/vocal music, the notes which appear for the "We see
in the back..." section are, in order: G#, G, B, A, E, D#, E, C,
F#, and D. There are two "Es" there, but they belong to different
octaves. The last "D" coincides with another appearance of "C".
So there does appear to be a deliberate attempt to emulate the
technique of the twelve-tone "style."From: Biffy the Elephant Shrew (2000-10-15)
As far as I can tell, the row is *supposed* to be G# G B Bb F A Eb E C F#
C# D. Like the 12-tone "Waltz For Guitar," this passage consists of the
row in its primary form over and over, with no transpositions, inversions
or retrogrades.From: Jon Naurin (2001-07-25)
Subject: Re: What is FZ's "Waltz for Guitar?"
Newsgroups: alt.fan.frank-zappa
"We see in the back
Of the City Hall mind
The dream of a girl about thirteen
Off with her clothes and into his bed
Where she tickles his fancy
All night long."
Or? Discuss.From: Denis Griffin (2001-07-25)
I thought I recognized it...
It does make sense. I'm comparing page 72 of (Keyboard/Guitar Player
Zappa special) and page 12 of (Frank Zappa Songbook), I'm not an expert
but it does look very similar. Transposed?From: Biffy the Elephant Shrew (2001-07-26)
Yep. By a half step. The "Brown Shoes" row is:
G# G B Bb F A Eb E C F# C# D
The "Waltz" row is:
G F# A# A E G# D D# B F C C#
Both pieces simply present the row repeatedly, with no transpositions,
inversions or retrogrades.From: Michael Gula (2001-07-26)
I think the two sequences are different. The apparant
similarities are due to the three-four meter and the lack of a
tonal center. Write your own twelve-tone row in three-four and
it may evoke the "City Hall Mind" sequence just as much. The
"City Hall Mind" sequence is quite a bit more sophisticated than
Waltz #1.And here's the twelve-tone section of "Brown Shoes Don't Make It" itself (also contributed by Denis Griffin):
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