Approach and Style

Zappa's guitar style was primarily dominated by single-note lines. Many of his records feature lengthy improvised guitar solos, characterized by their rhythmic complexity. " My solos, are speech-influenced rhythmically, and harmonically they're either pentatonic or poly-scale oriented," he told Steve Rosen. For soloing, he preferred the lydian and mixolydian modes and fourth and eleventh intervals. He liked to combine tonalities, such as playing in the key of A over an E7 vamp.
Most of his solos were played over pedal tones or one or two chord vamps. " I don't like chord changes," he said. " I like to have one tonal center that stays right there, or possibly with a second chord that varies off the main tonal center." Instead of playing chord changes, he often played notes that played notes that imply chords.

Techniques

The most distinctive aspect of Zappa's playing technique was his left handed phrasing. " If I pick one note with my right hand, I'm playing five with my left," he said to Steve Rosen. " I don't pick everything I play." Sometimes he played exclusively with his left hand, generating notes with hammer-ons and pull-offs for several measures before he picked a note with his right hand. From the mid-'70's, Zappa frequently used right-hand tapping techniques. He usually struck the fingerboard with the tip of his pick when tapping to create "Bagpipe noises". Examples of this can be heard on " Inca Roads" and "Po-Jama People," from "One Size Fits All". Zappa held his pick with his right hand thumb, forefinger, and middle finger. He used alternate picking, which helped him play many of his exceptionally fast and accurate passages. In the early 80's, when he got a guitar equipped with a floyd rose locking tremolo, he frequently experimented with the vibrato bar, pulling notes sharp and depressing the bar until the strings went limp. Zappa also enjoyed experimenting with feedback.
Many of his guitars were equipped with special EQ circuits that enhanced midrange frequencies that cause the guitar to feed back more easily.

Zappa's concerts often featured extended guitar solos that displayed his fluid legato phrasing and advanced sense of rhythm. Many of his finest solos can be heard on: -Shut up and play yer guitar
                                                                               - Zoot Allures
                                                                               - Hot Rats
                                                                               - One Size fits all
                                                                               - Over-Nite Sensation
                                                                               - Guitar