Buy essay: Frank Zappa: “Peaches en Regalia”

Frank Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was a famous American composer, guitarist, record producer and film director. During his 30 year career he wrote rock, jazz, electronic, orchestral music. Zappa was also the director of films and music videos; he also designed album covers for his albums. He was a producer of more than 60 albums that he created with the Mothers of Invention band and as an independent, solo artist.
The Rhythm of Peaches En Regalia. The rhythms in Peaches En Regalia are the most interesting aspects of the composition. It was common for the music of Frank Zappa that the rhythms range from simple to extremely complicate. The rhythm which is used a little bit in the second theme of the composition is the triplet. That triplet consists of three notes which are played in the space of two notes. If we try to say “trip-el-et, trip-el-et” over and over again, we will be actually speaking triplets rhythmically. They are written on paper by way of a tie or bracket with a three above the notes (Rosen 2004).
Frank Zappa uses upbeats in order to give the tune a more special and charming syncopated sound. In a measure of 4/4 time we have four beats: 1, 2, 3, 4, they are called the downbeats since they fall on each beat of the measure. Every time we say “one, two, three, four,” we are saying downbeats. Just now let’s put plus signs between all the beats: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +. It is pronounced as “one AND two AND three AND four AND. So, such “ands” are called the upbeats since they are situated between the beats. Such beats are opposite of downbeats and they are also used in the composition” (Nelson 2009).
The Harmony of Peaches En Regalia.

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The structure of the composition is made in a very harmonic way. Looking at the key signature of the composition, we can see three sharps. It often means that the piece is either in A major or F# minor yet the introduction and first theme of the composition starts with B minor seventh which is the supertonic in A major, the home key. The main signature for B minor chord is closely related to that of F# minor. B minor is made of two sharps and F# minor is made of three, so Zappa used what are called “closely related keys”. And to the second measure, he adds an F# minor chord which later brings the theory credance.
Some people think that Zappa in this composition uses what is called the “phrygian mode”. Modes are scales which were used in church music in the 11th century and can be still heard in chant music, such as the Gregorian Chants. There were no sharps or flats in the original form, since they were devised before the key signatures were used. It shows that Dorian, beginning on D, uses all the pitches from D to D without sharps and flats. Looking at the key of C major, we see that there is also no use of sharps or flats. So C major was at first called the Ionian mode. This chart shows the four original church modes that were used during the 11th century and that have some similarities with Frank Zappa’s Peaches En Regalia.
Name of Mode Scale
Dorian D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D
Phrygian E, F, G, A, B, C, D, E
Lydian F, G, A, B, C, D, E, F
Mixolydian G, A, B, C, D, E, F, G