Top 10 Zappa riffs of all time! (in my opinion, obviously)

[@stanparchaiski5394]

Thanks for keeping the memory of Frank alive. Great riffs. Absolutely one of the most underrated guitarists ever. He was awesome.

[@garstang-blues]

He most certainly was awesome!

[@alexanderkalinchenko4038]

He was,and is the one and only! His guitar playing was unique, bar none.

[@kurtkish6970]

It's awesome you chose some riffs from his MOST underrated album: 200 Motels!

[@gj8683]

I remember when the movie 200 Motels came out. I believe it was rated "X."

[@averyplaysguitar]

Zappa's guitar work was always amazing. Muffin Man is my favourite example of this.

[@garstang-blues]

Have you heard him play it at capitol theatre 1978? The solo there was pretty brilliant

[@averyplaysguitar]

@@garstang-blues I hadn't, but I just listened to it and it was great! the whole band sounds amazing there

[@1972Georges]

Same. Love muffin man

[@mateuszmattias]

About Muffin Man: I stole this comment from another user on another clip, but it's too good to waste: "If I ever become exceedingly rich I'm gonna hire a top-end guitar player to walk behind me whenever I enter a room and play this riff."

[@seanmurphy26]

Dude, the first time I saw Dweezil, he brought Eric Johnson out and they did a 35-minute dueling solo version of Muffin Man! Unbelievable

[@danDelaCasa]

Bringing back the genius work is always welcomed! I am waiting for the second part, and third, and fourth!! So many great riffs from FZ!

[@garstang-blues]

He's is so underrated in the guitar community. When I was putting this together there were so many I had to leave out. Also, so many synth riffs that were awesome too

[@timelanguid4813]

Eat that question is a cool riff to play

[@garstang-blues]

You're damn right it is!

[@pilesovinyl]

Nicely done. There are several more, but hard to complain with those and nicely played for this type of countdown.

[@garstang-blues]

@pilesovinyl Cheers! I was considering Room Service, Father O'blivion, Don't Eat Yellow Snow and Broken Hearts Are For Assholes. Which ones would you include?

[@fundament]

KZbin's algorithm is working fine. yesterday i listened Five Five Five (Soup 'n old clothes too-hell of a solo) and today this nice collection is brought to the shore.

[@garstang-blues]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@patandmacmusic]

My old band did Willie The Pimp and me and the other guitarist traded solos and it was one of my favorite experiences

[@duanespeare7825]

This must have been the hardest Top Ten list ever….Duane 🇨🇦And totally agree with Eat ThatvQuestion

[@johnschmidt6840]

Apostrophe's riff is absolutely monstrous

[@JohnLloydDavis]

555 is supposed to be played on the G and D strings as a pair of (double stops). I learned this from the Steve Vai transcription in the Frank Zappa Guitar Book. Good choice of riffs though :)

[@garstang-blues]

Ah wow, that's both surprising and cool. Thanks for the heads up

[@monkeysplus]

great top 10 list! And great Zappa-like tone. Dig your jammin' out on Apostrophe too! Although I think the main lick on San Ber'dino should be on this list - or maybe Zombie Woof - OK, I get it - too hard to just pick 10!

[@bryanmannoia8410]

Zappa was one of the best guitarists of all time. well done!

[@Leo_nbd]

I was watching the video under the assumption this was super popular video of a consolidated channel. It was surprising to notice it wasn't the case! Great job, man!

[@garstang-blues]

Thank you! Frank Zappa is a really unique guitarist who doesn't get enough recognition. So making the video was a joy. Are you a big Zappa fan?

[@Leo_nbd]

@@garstang-blues Oh, YT didn't notify me of this reply; so a little late but regardless: I haven't dug deep enough into his work to say I'm a big fan, but I've quite fancied what I've heard so far! Fully agree that he deserves far more recognition.

[@garstang-blues]

​@@Leo_nbd Yeah it took me a while to get properly get "into" his music. I really enjoyed "Apostrophe'" and "Overnite Sensation" albums first. "The Grand Wazoo" blow my mind though - and still does!

[@Leo_nbd]

@@garstang-blues Cool! I've only listened to songs on their own so far, but I'll give it a try with those!

[@universeconsciouscitizensc592]

There are 200 more. get busy! Ha! Good job, and I enjoyed listening to Frank done well.

[@garstang-blues]

Thank you very much kind sir!

[@zapphoddbubbahbrox5681]

in that tone genre you nailed it. gotta say willie the pimp is my fav... something comically soothing rendered from the pairing of Ponte and the Captain, backed by that plucky rhythm.

[@nadabrahmamedia731]

jean-luc isn’t the violinist on “willie the pimp”… that’s sugarcane harris…

[@toops61]

So hard to choose 'cause soooo many songs and riffs, he's the boss !! I would also pick Watermelon In Easter Hay, Peaches en Regalia, Florentine Pogen, Zoot allures, black napkins, and the greatest song ever for me : inca roads especially the incredible solo. Nice job anyway, congrats !

[@garstang-blues]

Yeah early seventies Zappa was absolutely tremendous. It was definitely my favourite period!

[@surfdigby]

I'd add San Ber'dino to that list too, and maybe Camarillo Brillo. The Orange County Lumber Truck is great too. This is the problem when you have a catalogue as big as Frank's. A top ten just isn't possible! Any Downers, there's another great riff. Damn.

[@larryhuston8433]

PROPS Bro! I immediately knew each tune as you nailed it.

[@garstang-blues]

Thanks!

[@mattgraff1907]

Great work, thanks. I would add “can’t afford no shoes, 👞

[@JessicaClariceElsener]

This rules. You really nailed all of them.

[@garstang-blues]

Thanks so much Jessica!

[@SaberToothGary]

Good shit, m'man!!

[@mrpaulgroberts]

excellent compendium - thanks for the heads up !

[@christophermoebs5514]

I knew before I clicked Willie the Pimp would be in there

[@garstang-blues]

How could I not include it!

[@TarantuLandoCalcuLingus]

five five Five goes so hard! Thanks man!

[@garstang-blues]

🎸

[@rollingvee]

Great list! (no watermelon in easter hay?)

[@garstang-blues]

I wasn't sure if it's a riff, a solo or a lick... It feels more like a lick, but I wasn't sure...

[@pomod]

Why does this only have 122 likes?

[@garstang-blues]

Because sadly, many guitarists don't know about Zappa's greatness. He was a riff machine!

[@REDHOUSETRAINS]

Awesome

[@garstang-blues]

Thank you!

[@cristianopaula1224]

Zappa é demais da conta! Falta muita coisa ai...

[@lassekristoffersen5906]

Thank you.

[@garstang-blues]

You're welcome!

[@MrPnew1]

I'm a little pimp with my hair gassed back

[@bakeone4406]

Some hot poop fur sure. If you let Transylvania Boogie crawl into your head, one of those other riffs might have to move to 11.

[@seanmurphy26]

Damn Transylvania Boogie is in outer space. To me, the layman, it almost makes no sense upon listening. But anything on chunga's Revenge would have been well represented

[@LForehand]

Someone once told me they thought Transylvania Boogie is "too noodly". To me it's one of the best guitar pieces from any guitarist, and I can't understand why some folks seem challenged by it. It's such a solid composition despite being improvised.

[@gamusin2044]

Son todos buenísimos👏👏🎵🎶 A esa lista yo también añadiría Dirty love y Cosmic Debris.

[@andrewwilson888]

Don't stop at 10! ;)

[@326vince]

Great work! Very cool!

[@garstang-blues]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@Arfshesaid457]

Nice roundup.

[@garstang-blues]

Thanks Kevin, are you a big Zappa fan?

[@Arfshesaid457]

@@garstang-blues I would say I am.

[@ggsginc]

not bad, hard to choose, so many more that are just as good, FZ, Riffmeister Extraordinaire!!

[@nicholasagnew2792]

That last one sounds like CKY...aaand I looked it up and Chad Ginsburg listens to Zappa, yep, nice.

[@petemacarthur]

That was the shit! I am the slime on yer radiooooooo 🤌🏻

[@ZAPPAFREAK59]

Every FZ riff is my favorite!

[@VirtualGuitarAndBass]

Where is Sinister Footwear

[@jamesmadejski]

Sequel vid please! Requesting Arf and Watermelon

[@garstang-blues]

Echidna's Arf is one of my all time favourite FZ tracks. It just builds and builds and gets better. And the musicianship is insane.

[@OneSupreme08]

Great work, sounds really great ! Is guitar effect more like overdrive or fuzz ?

[@garstang-blues]

Thanks! It's a ehx big muff fuzz after a boss eq pedal (boosting high frequencies) played through a vox ac30.

[@OneSupreme08]

sounds great @@garstang-blues

[@StratoHari2]

Sick tone

[@mosthole]

half of these are from my favorite zappa songs, ur fukn good

[@garstang-blues]

Cheers mate!

[@arnesaknussemm7294]

Abigail....great!!! ❤

[@SaintBuster]

They're all great, but hard to leave off "Stevie's Spanking".

[@fabiuliano4023]

Cool sound man! F.Z with a J.M😊. What's your fuzz? Zvex?

[@garstang-blues]

Thanks! No it's just a big muff... Although I put a EQ pedal in front of it which gives it massive range

[@gumbilicious1]

Man, you like your fuzz tone. You can prob through some fretboard oil on that guitar and make the fretboard pop, should also play a bit better too. Magic fingers is a great pick

[@garstang-blues]

Thanks for the advice!

[@davejackson8376]

One of my personal faves is My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama. Right down low on the fretboard. Great G3 version with Keneally on vocals.

[@goerfton77]

Amazing ! What effects were used? Thanks

[@garstang-blues]

Thanks! Compression, reverb and fuzz mainly! ( I have a EH big muffin pedal and an eq pedal which changes its tone)

[@nitrohanktoursamerica5047]

Not one from Joes Garage?

[@xxxy5527]

no problem man i´ve got you

[@jpetersgoyanks]

I’m less familiar with Five-Five-Five but I haven’t listened to the “Shut Up and Play Yer Guitar” series as much… still, I’d be harder pressed to list that and not list “Zombie Woof”… outside of that, I got no complaints.

[@VIRGONOMICS]

I had a Maestro, by Oberheim. Zappa used that on a lot of stuff. Wish I still had it, I traded a half ounce of shrooms for it and then sold it in order to move to NYC. Big mistake.

[@garstang-blues]

I've just spent 30 minutes watching Maestro by Oberheim videos on KZbin 🤣... it sounds absolutely epic.

[@garstang-blues]

Frank's gear in general was awesome. I remember seeing a video of Dweezil in Frank's old studio going through all the gear he had and it was fascinating.

[@thomasbiancuzzo9889]

Let him in peace I don’t understand why they try 3:35

[@steveschmitz2839]

Really good player and love the riffs, missing Baltimore and Watermelon, but enjoyed, thanks! my only critique would be tone, pretty much the same throughout, sounded good but got old.

[@garstang-blues]

Glad you enjoyed it Steve!

[@russshaber8071]

You forgot the break on Solar Latex Beef.

[@mikerobo2112]

The best riff of all time is Blue light on Tinsel town.

[@garstang-blues]

I'll have a full listen

[@SixStringSteve]

Zoot allures?? Anyone??

[@Zilla__man]

Are you sure it's not CKY?

[@patandmacmusic]

You kept it greasy 🤌

[@nogribin]

nice jag.

[@ZalMoxis]

I would of perhaps used a different guitar for this... but some good choices there ... 👍

[@haydenwalton2766]

you need to drink a whisky or two and find some feeling if you're going to play this stuff. glad to hear 555 in there anyway

[@heyfenwtf]

Zappa was never underrated. In his day, he was god of his world. He had a studio in his basement. His log cabin was the place to be for all of rock royalty.

[@marioroquebascunan4038]

Entonces?

[@timothytimh4321]

To me these are actually heads to different songs. Different hooks to hang a groove on. I think of a riff as a single phrase of melody.

[@kurtkish6970]

Magic Fingers!

[@Jah_Rastafari_ORIG]

Too much fuzz...

[@cyyytr0n]

I found it deliciously muddy 🤤

[@cranburiedsaul7239]

Ratio

[@parmesancrisp]

Are people not allowed to put their own spin on the sound? Besides, I think it sounds great

[@winstonschwarz1636]

Bamboozled is all kinda cheap and wrong. Pretty good job though man Apostrophe is fantastic.

[@Markcello]

Great, but the tone is awful

[@thomasbiancuzzo9889]

Leave it alone ,let him roast in peace ,you d suck but your treading water,give it. A break no one does FZ

[@anthonyscully2998]

Too much distortion

[@douglasthames175]

God that sucks!

[@thomasbiancuzzo9889]

Give it a break ,he’s a butcher

[@thomasbiancuzzo9889]

Not even close no one cover frank not even his son let him rest in peace

[@suds5214]

If you are trying to rate FZs riffs, you're wasting my time because you aren't a connoisseur of the master's works.

[@garstang-blues]

They're my top ten, but they may not be yours.

[@peterolbrisch8970]

Why so harsh, that's pretty rude.

[@zapazap]

He is not wasting your time mate. You have agency. If your time is wasted watching this, that's on you. *You* are wasting your time, not him.

[@zapazap]

​@@peterolbrisch8970Some people cannot help but put blame on others for their faults . Such people are anal apertures.

[@frenkcirillo1974]

Bellissimo grazie