Editing Frank Zappa (section)

===First musical interests===
{{quote box|quote=Since I didn't have any kind of formal training, it didn't make any difference to me if I was listening to [[Lightnin' Slim]], or a vocal group called the Jewels&nbsp;..., or [[Webern]], or [[Varèse]], or [[Stravinsky]]. To me it was all good music.|source= — Frank Zappa, 1989<ref name="Occhiogrosso"/>{{rp|34}}|width=25em}}

Zappa started at the age of 12, learning [[drum rudiment]]s at a summer school group course in Monterey, California with a teacher named Keith McKillop. Frank said "Instead of drums, he had us practicing on wooden planks."<ref name="Occhiogrosso"/>{{rp|13}} Zappa joined his first band at [[Mission Bay High School]] in San Diego as a drummer.<ref name="Occhiogrosso"/>{{rp|29}} At about the same time, his parents bought a [[phonograph]], which allowed him to develop his interest in music, and to begin building his record collection.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|22}} According to ''[[Rough Guide|The Rough Guide to Rock]]'' (2003), "as a teenager Zappa was simultaneously enthralled by black R&B ([[Johnny "Guitar" Watson|Johnny 'Guitar' Watson]], [[Guitar Slim]]), doo-wop ([[The Channels]], [[The Velvets]]), and modern composers, such as [[Igor Stravinsky]], [[Anton Webern]] and [[Edgard Varèse]]."<ref name="teentastes"/>

R&B singles were early purchases for Zappa, starting a large collection he kept for the rest of his life.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|36}} He was interested in sounds for their own sake, particularly the sounds of drums and other percussion instruments. By age twelve, he had obtained a snare drum and began learning the basics of orchestral percussion.<ref name="Occhiogrosso"/>{{rp|29}} Zappa's deep interest in modern classical music began<ref name="idol"/> when he read a ''[[Look (American magazine)|LOOK]]'' magazine article about the [[Sam Goody]] record store chain that lauded its ability to sell an LP as obscure as ''The Complete Works of Edgard Varèse, Volume One''.<ref name="Occhiogrosso"/>{{rp|30–33}} The article described Varèse's percussion composition ''[[Ionisation (Varèse)|Ionisation]]'', produced by [[EMS Recordings]], as "a weird jumble of drums and other unpleasant sounds". Zappa decided to seek out Varèse's music. After searching for over a year, Zappa found a copy (he noticed the LP because of the "mad scientist" looking photo of Varèse on the cover). Not having enough money with him, he persuaded the salesman to sell him the record at a discount.<ref name="Occhiogrosso"/>{{rp|30–33}} Thus began his lifelong passion for Varèse's music and that of other modern classical composers. He also liked the Italian classical music listened to by his grandparents, especially [[Giacomo Puccini|Puccini]]'s opera arias.

[[File:Frank Zappa HS Yearbook.jpg|thumb|upright|Zappa's senior yearbook photo, 1958]]
By 1956, the Zappa family had moved to [[Lancaster, California|Lancaster]], a small [[aerospace]] and farming town in the [[Antelope Valley]] of the [[Mojave Desert]] close to [[Edwards Air Force Base]]; he would later refer to Sun Village (a town close to Lancaster) in the 1973 track "Village of the Sun".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://globalia.net/donlope/fz/lyrics/Roxy_and_Elsewhere.html#Village|title=Lyrics of Village Of The Sun|first=Frank|last=Zappa|date=December 1973|work=Village Of The Sun, Roxy and Elsewhere|access-date=October 20, 2016}}</ref> Zappa's mother encouraged him in his musical interests. Although she disliked Varèse's music, she was indulgent enough to give her son a long-distance call to the New York composer as a fifteenth birthday present.<ref name="Occhiogrosso"/>{{rp|30–33}} Unfortunately, Varèse was in Europe at the time, so Zappa spoke to the [[Louise Varèse|composer's wife]] and she suggested he call back later. In a letter, Varèse thanked him for his interest, and told him about a composition he was working on called "[[Déserts]]". Living in the desert town of Lancaster, Zappa found this very exciting. Varèse invited him to visit if he ever came to New York. The meeting never took place (Varèse died in 1965), but Zappa framed the letter and kept it on display for the rest of his life.<ref name="idol">{{cite journal |last=Zappa |first=Frank |date=June 1971 |title=Edgard Varèse: The Idol of My Youth |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Archive-HiFI-Stereo/70s/HiFi-Stereo-Review-1971-06.pdf |journal=Stereo Review |volume=26 |issue=6 |pages=62–68 |via=World Radio History}}</ref>{{refn|group="nb"|On several of his earlier albums, Zappa paid tribute to Varèse by quoting his: "The present-day composer refuses to die."<ref>{{cite book|title=Friendly Remainders: Essays in Music Criticism after Adorno|first1=Murray|last1=Dineen|publisher=McGill-Queen's Press|date=2011|isbn=978-0-7735-8576-8|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=WV1ta5rlm58C&pg=PA122 122] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WV1ta5rlm58C }}</ref>}}

At [[Antelope Valley High School]], Zappa met Don Glen Vliet (who later changed his name to Don Van Vliet and adopted the stage name [[Captain Beefheart]]). Zappa and Vliet became close friends, sharing an interest in R&B records and influencing each other musically throughout their careers.<ref name="slaven03"/>{{rp|29–30}} Around the same time, Zappa started playing drums in a local band, the Blackouts.<ref name="watson96"/>{{rp|13}} The band was racially diverse and included [[Jim Sherwood|Euclid James "Motorhead" Sherwood]] who later became a member of the Mothers of Invention. Zappa's interest in the guitar grew, and in 1957 he was given his first instrument. Among his early influences were [[Johnny "Guitar" Watson]], [[Howlin' Wolf]] and [[Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown]]. In the 1970s/1980s, he invited Watson to perform on several albums. Zappa considered soloing the equivalent of forming "air sculptures",<ref>{{cite book|title=Frank Zappa|first1=Barry|last1=Miles|publisher=Atlantic Books Ltd|date=2014|isbn=978-1-78239-678-9|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=A5jCBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT266 266] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A5jCBAAAQBAJ}}</ref> and developed an eclectic, innovative and highly personal style.<ref>{{cite book|title=Academy Zappa: Proceedings of the First International Conference of Esemplastic Zappology (ICE-Z)|edition=illusdtrated|first1=Ben|last1=Watson|first2=Esther|last2=Leslie|publisher=SAF Publishing Ltd|date=2005|isbn=978-0-946719-79-2|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=NBfhgQf1-QwC&pg=PA223 223] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NBfhgQf1-QwC}}</ref> He was also influenced by Egyptian composer [[Halim El-Dabh]].<ref name="Holmes">{{cite book|title=Electronic and experimental music: technology, music, and culture|first=Thom|last=Holmes|edition=3rd|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|date=2008|isbn=978-0-415-95781-6|chapter=Early Synthesizers and Experimenters|pages=153–154|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hCthQ-bec-QC&pg=PA153|access-date=June 4, 2011}}</ref>

Zappa's interest in composing and arranging flourished in his last high school years. By his final year, he was writing, [[arrangement|arranging]] and conducting avant-garde performance pieces for the school orchestra.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|40}} He graduated from Antelope Valley High School in 1958, and later acknowledged two of his music teachers on the sleeve of the 1966 album ''[[Freak Out!]]''<ref name="walley80"/>{{rp|23}} Due to his family's frequent moves, Zappa attended at least six different high schools, and as a student he was often bored and given to distracting the rest of the class with juvenile antics.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|48}} In 1959, he attended [[Chaffey College]] but left after one semester, and maintained thereafter a disdain for formal education, taking his children out of school at age 15 and refusing to pay for their college.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|345}} While in college, Zappa met [[Terry Kirkman]] and played gigs at local [[coffee house]]s with him.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Searles |first=Malcolm C. |title=The Association 'Cherish' |date=October 5, 2018 |publisher=Troubador Publishing Ltd |isbn=978-1-78901-361-0 |pages=7 |language=English}}</ref>

Zappa left home in 1959, and moved into a small apartment in [[Echo Park, Los Angeles]]. After he met Kathryn J. "Kay" Sherman during his short period of private composition study with Prof. [[Karl Kohn]] of [[Pomona College]], they moved in together in [[Ontario, California|Ontario]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-12-21 |title=Frank Zappa zig-zagged around downtown Ontario in early 1960s |url=https://www.dailybulletin.com/2019/12/21/frank-zappa-zig-zagged-around-downtown-ontario-in-early-1960s/ |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=Daily Bulletin |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-01-10 |title=Frank Zappa once shared pizza and advice with Ontario teen band |url=https://www.dailybulletin.com/2021/01/10/frank-zappa-once-shared-pizza-and-advice-with-ontario-teen-band/ |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=Daily Bulletin |language=en-US}}</ref> and were married December 28, 1960.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|58}} Zappa worked for a short period in advertising as a copywriter. His sojourn in the commercial world was brief, but gave him valuable insights into its workings.<ref name="Occhiogrosso"/>{{rp|40}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2008/jan/18/copywritingisstillwriting |title=Copywriting is still writing |last=Myers |first=Ben |date=January 18, 2008 |website=The Guardian  |access-date=February 21, 2017}}</ref> Throughout his career, he took a keen interest in the visual presentation of his work, designing some of his album covers and directing his own films and videos.