This page contains materials from previous offerings of the course, including final project topics, photographs, and recorded media.
This page contains materials from previous offerings of the course, including final project topics, photographs, and recorded media.
Final Research Topics — Spring 2015
• Eric Breon: “Critical Reception of Frank Zappa’s Music for Acoustic Concert Ensembles”
• Michelle Brite: “Modern-Day Zappa”
• Jonathan Covach: “No Commercial Potential: The Fluidity Between High and Low-Brow in the Music of Frank Zappa”
• Jacob Denny: “Irony, the Language of Frank Zappa”
• Mia Detwiler: “Frank Zappa’s Concert Music: Early Twentieth-Century Influences”
• Adam Dillon: “The Utility Muffin Research Paper: Frank Zappa and His Audience, from Continent to Continent”
• Kyle Downs: “Frank Zappa’s Fingerprints on the Music of Steve Vai”
• Sean Enfield: “The Tragicomedy of Zappa’s Joe’s Garage”
• Jake Greener: “Zappa as a Literary Scholar: 'If you want an education, go to the library'”
• Robert Heuer: “Freaks, Hippies and Zappa: A History of Aberrance”
• Roger Hunt: “Zappa and Lamar: Commentary for a Purpose”
• Dakota Jimenez: "Xenochrony: A Look into the Studio Applications of Frank Zappa"
• Gustavo Mazon Finessi: "Zappafying the Jazz: A Frank Zappa Fake Book?"
• Victor Musasia II: “Lyrical Analysis of One Size Fits All”
• Sam Melnick: “Mother of Mouth: A Brief Survey of the Symbolic and Instrumental use of the Mouth in Music by Zappa, Björk, and Popular Musicians”
• Martin Morgan: “Organizing the Abstract”
• Leland Rooney: “Producing Muffins: Zappa and the Studio”
• Doug Sanders: “Satellite Conceptual Continuity”
• Ethan Sedelmeier: “The Cucamonga Years: The Pre-Mothers Music of Frank Zappa”
• John Sturino: “The Conceptual Continuity of Joe’s Garage”
• Kaitlen Turner: “The Truth in Storytelling”
• Jose Valdez: “The Blues in Zappa”
• Brooke Vlahos: “Synesthesia, Bitches!”
• Tyler Waters: “Guys with Big Noses: What Makes an Iconoclast?”
Final Research Topics — Spring 2012
• Hayden Barton: “The Artistic Approach Toward Music Taken by Frank Zappa and Trent Reznor”
• Daniel Bernardo: “Cheese, Sleaze, and Cultural Characters: Impersonation and Voice in the Works of Frank Zappa”
• Alex Browne: “Fostering Talent: Frank Zappa as a Talent Scout”
• Teresa Cattaneo: “Flower Punk”
• Eddie Chalupa: “Disco Outfreakage: Bruce Bickford and his Association with Frank Zappa”
• Denver Christiansen: “Zappa and Social Archetypes”
• Neil Coburn: “Frank Zappa and Censorship”
• Tom Coppin: “Frank Zappa: Composer, Bandleader… Dictator?”
• Ethan Dorsett: “Was Frank Zappa a Sexual Deviant?”
• Chris Douglas: “Charles Mingus and Frank Zappa”
• Austin Ford: “Terry Bozzio”
• Sam Friedland: “Zappa’s Metamodern Disposition”
• Jordan Garrett: “Frankly Zappa”
• Dylan Garrison: “Vinnie Coliauta and Chad Wackerman: Before and After Zappa”
• Nathan Garrison: “Rhythm & Blues in the Early Works of Frank Zappa”
• Matthew Gigliotti: “An Absurd Comparison: Frank Zappa and ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic”
• Darian Gore: “Mutant Gypsy Vacuum Cleaner: A Study of Frank Zappa through the Lens of Album Art and Liner Notes”
• Brice Haueisen: “Joe’s Garage, Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention and Zappa’s Fight Against Censorship and the PMRC”
• Julian Hood: “200 Motels: Zappa’s Answer to Avant-Garde Film”
• Ty Hoying: “Not Just Another Mother: Zappa’s Influence on Keyboardist George Duke”
• Will Huebner: “The Drummers of Frank Zappa: Before & After”
• Katherine Jahangiri: “Planet of the Baritone Women”
• Kyle Kersey: “Sane Men in a Mad World: Bill Hicks and Frank Zappa”
• Callie Lackey: “Pauline Butcher vs Frank Zappa: Comparative Tales Told and Untold”
• Mason Lynass: “Frank Zappa: Leader of a New Wave of Musical Exploration”
• Hayden Mapel: “Zappa as Filth: Frank Zappa’s Fight Against Music Ratings”
• Tyler McElroy: “Reflections Over Frank Zappa’s Business Path”
• Toby Merrill: “Bringing The Music to Life”
• Andrew Miller: “Zappa: On Censorship”
• Devin Miller: “Human Behavior in the Eyes of Zappa”
• Joseph Morrison: “Frank Zappa: Protopunk, Punk Rock Ideal”
• Daniel Najera: “Frank Zappa as a Postmodern Composer”
• Evan Oxenhandler: “Zappa Bands on the Road: The First Ten Years as a Mother”
• Ryan Pivovar: “Frank Zappa and the New Romanticism”
• Christian Poteat: “Go Jump Off Your Ivory Towers: Frank Zappa and Education”
• Nika Potts: “The PMRC Hearings: Studies in Legality, Morality, and Suck-uppery”
• Jacob Pouttu: “Zappa's Lasting Influence on Audio Engineering”
• Griffen Rice: “Zappa and Politics”
• Kitty Y. Rios: “Zappa: Six Degrees of Post-Modernism”
• Lisa Robertson: “Zappology vs. Transcendental Meditation and Zen Buddhism”
• John Rusch: “A Philosophy of Humor in Frank Zappa’s Sheik Yerbouti”
• Hannah Sandle: “Frank Zappa: Misogynist, or Misunderstood?”
• Marcus Schiebold: “Was Zappa As Weird As You Are?”
• Chelsey Shriner: “Frank Zappa’s a Star” (Zappa and Astrology)
• Paul Shinn: “Frank Zappa and his Band Members: Bozzio, Colaiuta and Vai”
• Andrew Talty: “Calvin Schenkel: The Artwork of Frank Zappa”
• Georgeanne Travis: “Frank Zappa and the Fall of Communism in Czechoslovakia”
• Jordan Tucker: “Frank Zappa’s Saxophonists”
• Matt Young: “Zappa and Miles, Ahead of Their Time”
Final Research Topics — Spring 2009
• Luke Angle: “Obsessive Creativity” (Comparison of MF Doom and Frank Zappa)
• Alec Bart: “Frank Zappa’s Musicians”
• Jason Bennett: “Frank Zappa’s Guitar and Gear: Up Close and Loud”
• Graham Black: “The Necessary Contradictions of Frank Zappa”
• Andrew Dittman: “The Adventures of Frank Zappa and Huckleberry Finn”
• Stephen Estes: “Dominus Vo’ Bisque ‘em Et Come Spear a Church of Appliantology: Zappa and Religion”
• Cody Forrest: Chasing Squirrels (an original composition styled after Frank Zappa)
• Michael Garman: “The Frank Zappa Secret Riff Collection”
• Jordan Gheen: “The Horn Players of Frank Zappa”
• Michael Giulietti: “Frank Zappa From A Progressive Perspective”
• Grant Goldberg: “Frank Zappa’s Unacknowledged Legacy”
• William Green: “Frank Zappa’s Social Commentary”
• Colton Harmon: “The Political and Social Views of Frank Zappa”
• Allie Harris: “Stevie’s Spanking” (a biography of Steve Vai)
• Jake Haygood: “Over-Nite Sensation: the Band’s Contribution”
• Colin Hinton: “The Influence of Frank Zappa’s Drummers on his Music”
• Adam Lockhart: “Frank Zappa: The Artist”
• Brooks Martin: “Not-so Lone Rhinoceros: Adrian Belew’s Performance and Conceptual Continuities”
• Derek Molacek: “Why Don’t You Like Me? The Critics’ Reactions to Frank Zappa and Frank Zappa’s Reaction to the Critics”
• Brady Morrison: “How Much Chance Did Zappa Partake In?”
• Ramon Muzquiz: “Frank Zappa: Punk Friend or Foe?”
• Manuel Oyarce: “Where Does Frank Get Off?”
• Brady Pitcher: “Breaking the Mold: How Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention Began Desensitizing Mainstream America”
• L. Scott Price: “Time and Macro-Rhythms within the Project/Object”
• Colby Schreck: “Frank Zappa's Drummers”
• Hamilton Skrabanek: “The Guitar Wizardry of Frank Zappa: An Exploration in the Evolution of Tone and Technique”
• Erik Stolpe: “Anything, Any Time, Anywhere – For No Reason At All: Frank Zappa’s Anti-Standard”
• Tyler Thomas: “Zappa vs. the Audiofetishists: An In-Depth Look At Zappa’s Revisionism to We’re Only in it for the Money and Crusin’ With Ruben and the Jets”
• Colton Harmon: “The Political and Social Views of Frank Zappa”
• Danika Trierweiler: “Religion in the Life and Work of Frank Zappa”
• Simon Weaver: "The Roxy Band"
• Ashley Witherspoon: “Frank Zappa as a Teacher”
Final Research Topics — Summer 2007
• Paul Thomas: “Lumpy Gravy: Investigation and Analysis”
• Richard Dale, Jr.: “Frank Zappa the Guitarist"
• John Guari: “I Hear That Beat, I Jump Outta My Seat: Rhythm and Meter in Frank Zappa’s Music”
• Matthew Hough: “Zappa Guitar Muffin Cheese Compressor”
• Thad Bonduris: “Structural Improvisation as We Know It: Frank Zappa’s Aversion of Group Democracy”
• Oren Bruton: “Frank Zappa and the German Connection”
• Dane Ernst: “Zappa’s Credo”
• Sungjoon Lee: “Frank Zappa vs. Lou Reed”
• Chaz Underriner: “Frank Zappa in 1967: A Broken Satirist”
• Carolina Calvache: “Transcription of an Excerpt from ‘Inca Roads'”
• Sarah Hruzek: “The Sociological Perspectives of Frank Zappa”
• Gred Dixon: “Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart"
• Gabriel Arreola: “Frankie Z and the Wacky World of Drugs”
Final Research Topics — Summer 2006
• Levi Howard: "An Analysis of The Lyrics of Joe’s Garage as Postmodern Literature”
• Mark Douglass: “Joe’s Garage and A Clockwork Orange: Shock Value for a Higher Cause?”
• Joe Holmes: “FZ’s Methods of Surprise”
• Emily Crow: “An Analysis of High and Low Culture in Franz Zappa’s Lyrics”
• Adam Strange: “The Personal Side of Frank Zappa: FZ as a Husband/Father”
• Laura Marrero: “Unity of Rhythmic Motives Throughout Frank Zappa’s Sheik Yerbouti”
• Chris Douglas: “Zappa’s Percussionists”
• Tim Mabrey: “Zappa and Censorship” Bret Crow: “Orchestral Maneuvers and Approaches”
• Tyler Huffman: “The Studio Genius of Frank Zappa”
• Jason Harron: “The Crux of Conceptual Continuity”
• Brian Felker: “Zappa’s Minstrel Show” Steve DeCrow: “Zappa and Censorship”
• Nick Groesch: “Frank Zappa vs. The Herd (in the Nietzschean sense)”
• Dennis Pitman: “Zappa, Politics, and Government”
• Tony Spiro: “Zappa the Rhythmic Fetishist”
• Stephen Lucas: “The Symbolic Context of Vegetables in the Music of Frank Zappa”
• Adam Lockhart: “Frank Zappa: An Artful Balance of Vernacular and Non-vernacular Musics”
• Brandon James: “Being Frank About Frank”
Final Research Topics — Summer 2005
• Hiro Ueno: "FZ & Captain Beefheart"
• Jeff Hodges: "Xenochrony and Postmodernism"
• Pete Saleh: "FZ’s Drummers"
• Mark Scott: "Analysis of 'The Dog Breath Variations' and 'Envelopes'"
• Tammy Walker: “Sheik Yerbouti and Broadway The Hard Way as Narrative Objects”
• Sarah Renfro: "1985 Senate Hearings (FZ and PMRC)"
• Clayton Freeman: "FZ and the Recording Studio"
• Eric Rodis: "FZ’s Satirical Legacy"
• Shannon Brady: "FZ’s Violinists"
Final Research Topics — Summer 2004
• Chris Cowart: “The [Studio] Wizardry of FZ”
• Jessica Leza: “My Elected Officials Want to Censor Your Mama”
• Isaac Lausell: "Analysis of 'Watermelon in Easter Hay'”
• Yvonne Canales: “FZ as Father and Husband”
• Steve Sayed: “Frank Zappa vs. the PMRC”
• Jake Vaught: “The Drummers of Frank Zappa”
• Jocelyn Hund: "Analysis of 'King Kong'”
• Jake Montgomery: “Zappa’s Influence on the Pop Careers of His Musicians”
• Rhett Butler: “Genre-crossing, Creative Control, and Artistic Independence”
• Eric Phelan: “Frank Zappa and His Involvement with Film/Video”
• Matt Nicholson: “The Zolo of Zappa”
• Kayo Momokawa: "FZ’s Thing Fish”
• Ara Weller: “Zappa for President 2004”
Final Research Topics — Summer 2003
• Jeremy Thorn: FZ’s use of quotation
• Jack Forbis: Influences on FZ
• Bob Lanzetti: FZ’s Synclavier compositions
• Chad Wilbur: Influence of contemporary classical music on FZ
• Aki Hayakawa: FZ covers done by musicians from different genres/styles
• Rex Emerson: Relationships of FZ’s bandmates’ influences/styles and music
• Zack Rothenbuehler: FZ’s use of other styles
• Marjorie Owens: Influence of black culture on FZ
• Lynnea Edwards: Use of meter in FZ’s compositions
• Tim Hicks: PMRC hearings and FZ
• David Hall: FZ’s influence on his performers
• Ian Kelso: Recording techniques and equipment
• Tim Disen: FZ’s stunt guitarists: Vai and Keneally
• Lars Larson: Discussion of four albums from different periods
Final Research Topics — Summer 2002
• Doug Smitherman: "Comparison of FZ’s Joe’s Garage with The Who’s Tommy and Pink Floyd’s The Wall"
• Joe Ayoub: “Zappa and Dadaism”
• Dallas Morris: “The Elliptical Essence of Progress as Manifested in the Work of FZ”
• Lily Maase: “The Zappa Phenomenon: Analysis of Natural and Manufactured Irony in the Life and Works of Frank Zappa”
• Stefan Treber: “An Analysis of 'DuPree’s Paradise' by Frank Zappa”
• Todd Markey: “Arranging Zappa: Determining a Basis for Arranging 'Toads of the Short Forest'”
• Jorge Valenciano: “Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention: …And Re-Invention…and Re-Invention (Yet Again)”
Final Research Topics — Summer 2001
• Pamela D. Ward: “Sounds Like an Ugly Guy”
• Greg Turcotte: “The Fake Night Club”
• Parker Trevathan: Survey of FZ band lineups
• Thor F. Sanderson: FZ’s early popular music and his influence on other musicians
• Danny Smolenski: “Thing-Fish versus Broadway”
Click below to access a variety of media related to the course, including news articles, audio, and video files:
...And Music is the Best: The Music of Frank Zappa
A program of works by Frank Zappa, arranged and performed by guest artist Arthur Barrow (bass), with performars from the Music of Frank Zappa class; University of North Texas Voertman Hall, 23 April 2015.
Zappa Unlocked: The Mars/Barrow Connection
A program of works by Frank Zappa, arranged and performed by guest artists Arthur Barrow (bass) and Tommy Mars (keyboards), with performers from the Music of Frank Zappa class; University of North Texas Voertman Hall, 16 April 2012.
Zappa Band Members Do Q&A at UNT
Video interview with guest artists Arthur Barrow (bass) and Tommy Mars (keyboards), and composition professor Joseph Klein, for The Dallas Morning News website, 16 April 2012.
Shimamoto, Ken: “Heads Up, Zappaphiles: 'Zappa Unlocked' Comes to UNT”
Dallas Observer article regarding UNT residency by Arthur Barrow and Tommy Mars, 02 April 2012.
Rossetti, Ellen: “Two Former Zappa Band Members Unlock the Music at UNT”
UNT news release regarding residency by Arthur Barrow and Tommy Mars for the Music of Frank Zappa course, 22 March 2012.
Rossetti, Ellen: "Zappa University"
Article from The North Texan magazine featuring NT alumnus and FZ bassist Arthur Barrow (with sidebar on The Music of Frank Zappa course), Winter 2007.
Breeding, Lucinda: "Deconstructing Zappa"
Article from Denton Record Chronicle regarding The Music of Frank Zappa course, 6 August 2006.
"The Other Side of the News" with Mike Rogers
Radio interview with Joseph Klein on The Music of Frank Zappa course, broadcast on KRLD-AM (Dallas, TX), 28 July 2006.
Sayres, Scott: "UNT Class Explores Life of Frank Zappa"
Television news spot featuring Joseph Klein and The Music of Frank Zappa course at UNT, Fox 4 News (Dallas, TX), 19 July 2006.
Rossetti, Ellen: “University Students Soak Up Zappa This Summer”
Article from UNT News Service regarding The Music of Frank Zappa course, 18 July 2006.
Senft, Michael: “Frankly Zappa”
Article from The Arizona Republic regarding Zappa plays Zappa tour, 18 June 2006; includes comments by Joseph Klein.
Senft, Michael: “Zapping Politics and Society"
Article from The Arizona Republic regarding Frank Zappa, 18 June 2006; includes comments by Joseph Klein.
"90.1 @ Night" with host Paul Slavens
Excerpt from an hour-long radio interview with Joseph Klein on the music of Frank Zappa, KERA-FM (Dallas, TX), originally broadcast on 12 December 2004.