Really impressive. Lots of people can play these songs and run through the notes, but very few can play with the necessary speed and technicality while retaining the feeling of Frank's playing. Great job, man.
Thanks a lot, I'm not that technically gifted to run through the song like modern players, also I'm kind of lazy to study technical stuff. That being said, I studied Frank's playing and feel a lot and I love him so I did the best I could to recreate that kind of feel on the instrument, I'm really glad you liked it!
You clearly put a hell of a lot of work into this and it paid off. I don't normally like listening to people try to mimic Zappa's playing because his sound and phrasing is so unique. You really captured the nuances and tone of Black Napkins....the greatest ever piece of guitar music. Salute.
This is gold. This song turned me and my friends on to Zappa. Our friend’s dad showed us this song when we were baked and said “allow me to introduce you to Black Napkins by Frank Zappa” Forever changed. Great cover.
Wow man! That was just dead on perfection! Its so nice to see those licks actually played. I've only listened to this as a fan and not as a player, so i have always just improvised over this without really learning more than the head. I think that will be changing soon thanks to you.
A friend introduced me to Zappa’s music when I was 17 in the early 80’s and the two first albums we listened to were Hot Rats and Zoot Allures. Right away the covers (this were vinyl times) were intriguing to me. Then the music blew me away (I was starting to play drums by then). I’ve been a big fan ever since specially of his instrumental music.
What a phenomenal musician, guitarist, and artist you are, Stefano. Thank you for sharing your talent with us. This is by and far my most favorite guitar improvisation of all time, and your rendition of it makes it all the more phenomenal.
Thanks man! If you got the time to study you can play it, I just slowed down the song a lot so I could hear the individual notes and I studied every phrase one by one, then when you start to remember it correctly you put it all together and that's it! You got to pay attention to the phrasing because Frank played weird shapes even when he was playing simple pentatonics, he jumped a lot around the fretboard!
This is beond just covering black napkin. This man is a genuin phenomena, he even uses the right pedal sound and pitch on his version. Pleese let us hear from you again!
This is freakin impressive !!!!! I was playing along a Black Napkins backing track on YT and decided to see if some people ever did a cover of it, found this vid, and was floored. Put the guitar back on its stand and called it the day. I thought I had a good Zappa style but you my friend you are the king. Spectacular!
I had a dream where i was playing as good as you lol sokes aside you lesrned this song completely and played it perfectly 1:1 you even got the tone and feel down right. A big inspiration for me to be this good pne day keep it up and greetings from Germany ma friend!
My first experience with Zappa's music was Bobby Brown goes down ahahah I was super into 70's rock at the time so I didn't know what to think of it, it was so strange and different, then I found a compilation online named "100 greatest guitar solos of all time" and there was Black Napkins in it, man I was blown away, I couldn't believe it was from the same guy that made Bobby Brown! Then after listening to a lot of his stuff I started to understand more his "silly" songs and now I love them the same way I love this song.
yesss me to, my dad had his cd and when i was alone i turned the sound system in the living room all the way up and started moving like a maniac because of the awesomeness.
Thanks a lot man! It took me quite a while indeed, the good thing was that I listened to the song like 2 million times before so it was more like: "ok, I know the song perfectly, now let's see what the fuck is actually going on in there" ahahah
@@stefanobertolino9091 There are so many terrific phrases in there, staggering invention when you consider it is just two chords. I first heard it many years ago and still love it!
Fantastic! You really learned the version beautifully. I just jammed so I could addd a bit of myself into the piece. Nothing like yours. Love it. Keep on Rockin it!
@@stefanobertolino9091 Thanks man. I did actually do that. I appreciate your being so kind and gracious. I’m working on doing the tune myself. I have the drums and bass done. But am waiting on getting a keyboard repaired. You’re an amazing artist and seem like a really humble guy as well! Have a great holiday and God bless you! I. I did tell people it’s you on the instruments so people can see your talent! Great work!
Stefano I had to play this as soon as I woke up. blessings my friend, you nailed it. please more of the same. love to have the tab on this one. All good things
freaken killer tone and guitar playing bro. Huge Zappa. Well done. He is so underated. Steve Via can attest to his brilliance on guitar. He says in every interview that Zappa just floored him. I am going to learn this on guitar and just put Black Napkins in YT search engine and I your video pooped up. I am blown away how good you are. I just wanted to see what two chords he is playing and what modes he using when he switched keys. I think first chord is C # minor and second chord is some type of A chord. Anyway thanks for the motivation. I am 61 and been playing guitar since I was 14 and put the guitar down before Covid and picking it up for first time in 3 plus years. Somehow Franz Zappa on Mike Douglas show appeared in my YT feed and Zappa played Black Napkins and killed it which motivated me to start playing again. . Funny thing is I have been listening to Frank past few days and I keep hearing the blues intertwined with all the modal playing and in the interview he talks about his blues influences. Check it out. It's an amazing interview and he kills it his Gibson SG. And new subscriber here. Can't wait to check out your channel and hear what other music you are into. th-cam.com/video/rVn0CZS18zI/w-d-xo.html 🫵🪨
Thanks a lot for the great comment! Don't ever give up playing man, music keeps us alive. I'm glad you picked up the guitar again after Covid. You're right, Zappa is a killer blues player, he just played it differently using weird shapes on the neck and using notes outside the pentatonic. He used lydian and dorian mode a lot mixing the major sixth or the augmented fourth with the pentatonic shapes. The chord progression of the main structure is C#m7 - Dmaj7, so canonically the song is in C# phrygian, even if he never uses the note D flat in the song. He plays C# dorian over the C# minor and then he just plays C# minor pentatonic over Dmaj7. In the last bit the song modulates to A mixolidian and stays on that key.
Thanks a lot for the comment even though the original still remains unbeatable to me, it's insane to thinks this was an improvised solo, Zappa was from another planet.
Sublime Stefano, you nailed it. I saw FZ in London many moons ago, he had this whippersnapper on stunt guitar called Vai ! Keep up the excellent work. Greetings from Albion ......... Aindriu
OMFG. Stefano, that was amazing! I was thinking about embarking on a transcription and learning to play this, just to upload it . But I realise now, that it's been done as well as it possibly could be by anyone who isn't Frank. You've clearly listened incredibly closely to the notes, the phrasing, and which position on the neck each phrase should be played on. And then pulled off this performance. Just bravo!
Thanks man, I really appreciate that. As you said, I took a lot of time to learn all the phrases one by one, slowing down the track a lot but I really love this song and it was worth it, especially because you can understand the complexity of Frank's playing a lot more. I'm really glad you liked it!
@@stefanobertolino9091 Aside from the feeling of accomplishment of mastering something like this, I think that's one of the big benefits of learning a solo - you get more insight into the playing of another guitarist.
Ogni tanto ritorno qui a gustarmi le tue cover di Zappa e SOLO ADESSO MI SONO RESO CONTO DEL POSTER DI MGS3!! FRATELLO! Tu si che sei un tipo giusto, che Godjima sia con te.
Ahahah beh allora ci capiamo, Hideo è il mio game developer preferito in assoluto e MGS3 è penso nella mia top 3 di sempre :) spoilerino, tra qualche giorno potrai goderti una cover in più di Zappa, qualcosa bolle in pentola!
Where's the love button? This is very impressive and I love Frank Zappa so I'm not easily impressed! Thank you for your hard work on this and for sharing it!
In the first 10 seconds of the video it was inevitable that I would like it. Congratulations! Nei primi 10 secondi del video era inevitabile che mi piacesse. Congratulazioni! Nos 10 primeiros segundos do vídeo ficou inevitável que eu desse um like. Parabéns!
Wonderfully done!! I've of my favorite Zappa solos. Follwed by Penquin in Bondage, Carolina Hardcore Estacy and Inca Road. You nailed it! It was a pleasure to watch.
By far and wide the best Black Napkins cover I've heard!
Thanks man, I'm really glad you liked it :)
was I the only one singing the backing vocals ??
You know it's a good cover when you expect "Torture Never Stops" to kick in afterwards. Nice. :)
Ahahah thanks man! I'm actually planning to do a rendition of Torture solo from Barcelona '88 sooner or later, that's another magic solo from Frank.
Man I was expecting exactly the same thing
Great comment!
Absolutely fantastic.
Really impressive. Lots of people can play these songs and run through the notes, but very few can play with the necessary speed and technicality while retaining the feeling of Frank's playing. Great job, man.
Thanks a lot, I'm not that technically gifted to run through the song like modern players, also I'm kind of lazy to study technical stuff. That being said, I studied Frank's playing and feel a lot and I love him so I did the best I could to recreate that kind of feel on the instrument, I'm really glad you liked it!
You clearly put a hell of a lot of work into this and it paid off. I don't normally like listening to people try to mimic Zappa's playing because his sound and phrasing is so unique. You really captured the nuances and tone of Black Napkins....the greatest ever piece of guitar music. Salute.
This is gold. This song turned me and my friends on to Zappa. Our friend’s dad showed us this song when we were baked and said “allow me to introduce you to Black Napkins by Frank Zappa”
Forever changed.
Great cover.
Absolutely amazing! Wow!
Outbloodystanding! I got tingles up and down my spine in all the right places.
Up and down my spine, I need it I need it 'cause I feel so fine!
Wow man! That was just dead on perfection! Its so nice to see those licks actually played. I've only listened to this as a fan and not as a player, so i have always just improvised over this without really learning more than the head. I think that will be changing soon thanks to you.
A friend introduced me to Zappa’s music when I was 17 in the early 80’s and the two first albums we listened to were Hot Rats and Zoot Allures. Right away the covers (this were vinyl times) were intriguing to me. Then the music blew me away (I was starting to play drums by then). I’ve been a big fan ever since specially of his instrumental music.
What a phenomenal musician, guitarist, and artist you are, Stefano. Thank you for sharing your talent with us. This is by and far my most favorite guitar improvisation of all time, and your rendition of it makes it all the more phenomenal.
Excellent job my man. I only wish I could play that well. You played it beautifully.
Thanks man! If you got the time to study you can play it, I just slowed down the song a lot so I could hear the individual notes and I studied every phrase one by one, then when you start to remember it correctly you put it all together and that's it! You got to pay attention to the phrasing because Frank played weird shapes even when he was playing simple pentatonics, he jumped a lot around the fretboard!
Now that's what I call a guitar solo. Magnificent.
That was breathtakingly beautiful. Thank you very much.
Very nice. Thank you for sharing this masterpiece of guitar music.
Excellent rendition
So cleanly and precisely performed. Rhythmic excellence!
Beautiful
Serious guitar playing Stefano,Frank would have had approved...
Thanks a lot man!
Super!
I know this old , but im glad someone else loves this song the way i do . . . .
ZOOT ALLURES !
Wow! Very impressive
You have blown me away with this cover, just 👌, simply fantastic Zappa cover 🥰
Thanks a lot!
Well done!
This song is the perfect prelude IMO to the darkness that follows in the song “The torture never stops”. Genius ❤
Love it!
This is beond just covering black napkin. This man is a genuin phenomena, he even uses the right pedal sound and pitch on his version. Pleese let us hear from you again!
thats impressive playing! keep on keeping on with Zappa..
That's one of my most favorite Frank Zappa's songs. NICELY DONE! GREAT!
great great job done and executed perfectly !!!!! bravo !!!!
You did an amazing job covering this song bud! One of the best covers I’ve seen to date, I hope you keep pursuing music
Thanks man I really appreciate it!
Absolutely nailed it!
This is freakin impressive !!!!! I was playing along a Black Napkins backing track on YT and decided to see if some people ever did a cover of it, found this vid, and was floored. Put the guitar back on its stand and called it the day. I thought I had a good Zappa style but you my friend you are the king. Spectacular!
Nice job, a Zappa fan.
Bravo !
I had a dream where i was playing as good as you lol sokes aside you lesrned this song completely and played it perfectly 1:1 you even got the tone and feel down right. A big inspiration for me to be this good pne day keep it up and greetings from Germany ma friend!
And Zappa was a master of tone. I don't hear him get enough credit for his tone.
Great stuff man! Very well done! Zappa was very much underestimated as a guitarist. I think it is a special feel to play like Zappa.
I can't say how much you NAILED that tone! Beautiful.
Thank you mate!
The first Zappa solo I heard was "rat tomago" on Sheik Yerbouti. I've been a fan ever since.
My first experience with Zappa's music was Bobby Brown goes down ahahah
I was super into 70's rock at the time so I didn't know what to think of it, it was so strange and different, then I found a compilation online named "100 greatest guitar solos of all time" and there was Black Napkins in it, man I was blown away, I couldn't believe it was from the same guy that made Bobby Brown! Then after listening to a lot of his stuff I started to understand more his "silly" songs and now I love them the same way I love this song.
yesss me to, my dad had his cd and when i was alone i turned the sound system in the living room all the way up and started moving like a maniac because of the awesomeness.
This is incredible.. You really played it note for note. For me it was a visual glimpse in that Osaka show.. Thank you!♥️
Very well done!!
Crikey!! That must have taken ages to perfect.......and perfect it was! Bravo!
Thanks a lot man! It took me quite a while indeed, the good thing was that I listened to the song like 2 million times before so it was more like: "ok, I know the song perfectly, now let's see what the fuck is actually going on in there" ahahah
@@stefanobertolino9091 There are so many terrific phrases in there, staggering invention when you consider it is just two chords. I first heard it many years ago and still love it!
Frank would be very impressed !
Wow! Unbelievable! Thanks for sharing your gift.
That was amazing!
Fantastic! You really learned the version beautifully. I just jammed so I could addd a bit of myself into the piece. Nothing like yours. Love it. Keep on Rockin it!
Thanks man, if you want to Jam without me playing over it I made a backing track as well, you can find it on my channel!
@@stefanobertolino9091 Thanks man. I did actually do that. I appreciate your being so kind and gracious. I’m working on doing the tune myself. I have the drums and bass done. But am waiting on getting a keyboard repaired. You’re an amazing artist and seem like a really humble guy as well!
Have a great holiday and God bless you! I. I did tell people it’s you on the instruments so people can see your talent! Great work!
👍🏻😍😍😍😍😍👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻fantastico !!!
Great work Stefano, From the album Zoot Allures, one of my top 20 favorite albums from Frank.
Bravo ! quasiment une parfaite réplique ! En tout cas j'ai pris mon pied ! 🤩😍
Thank you!!
Bang on!
OMG....stunning!!! Simply fantastic!!
Awesome!!
Excellent. Note for note, most accurate performance replication I've ever heard. Kudos on your attention to detail. It's easy to feel the love.
Well done, sir!
Awesome, man! The main theme is indeed mysterious but even more mysterious is Pink Napkins, a sort of variation on Black Napkins.
Thanks man, I listened to pink napkins a while back, I have to check it out again!
Che dire Bravissimo
Amazing, let’s pray together brothers
Fantastic!
This is one of my favourite Zappa solos, what an incredible job you have done with this, brilliant
Frincking love this
Well done 🎉🎉🎉
Stefano I had to play this as soon as I woke up. blessings my friend, you nailed it. please more of the same. love to have the tab on this one. All good things
Very nice!
Porca miseria. Black Napkins di Zappa è una brano che mi fa commuovere.
Sei stato bravissimo!
Magnificent ... you nailed it. Phil, UK
fantastic..
Brother you nailed it RESPECT BRO
Nice work!!
🔥🔥
Perfect. Note for note.
oh yes. You got that under complete control.
freaken killer tone and guitar playing bro. Huge Zappa. Well done. He is so underated. Steve Via can attest to his brilliance on guitar. He says in every interview that Zappa just floored him. I am going to learn this on guitar and just put Black Napkins in YT search engine and I your video pooped up. I am blown away how good you are. I just wanted to see what two chords he is playing and what modes he using when he switched keys. I think first chord is C # minor and second chord is some type of A chord. Anyway thanks for the motivation. I am 61 and been playing guitar since I was 14 and put the guitar down before Covid and picking it up for first time in 3 plus years. Somehow Franz Zappa on Mike Douglas show appeared in my YT feed and Zappa played Black Napkins and killed it which motivated me to start playing again. . Funny thing is I have been listening to Frank past few days and I keep hearing the blues intertwined with all the modal playing and in the interview he talks about his blues influences. Check it out. It's an amazing interview and he kills it his Gibson SG. And new subscriber here. Can't wait to check out your channel and hear what other music you are into. th-cam.com/video/rVn0CZS18zI/w-d-xo.html 🫵🪨
Thanks a lot for the great comment! Don't ever give up playing man, music keeps us alive. I'm glad you picked up the guitar again after Covid. You're right, Zappa is a killer blues player, he just played it differently using weird shapes on the neck and using notes outside the pentatonic. He used lydian and dorian mode a lot mixing the major sixth or the augmented fourth with the pentatonic shapes. The chord progression of the main structure is C#m7 - Dmaj7, so canonically the song is in C# phrygian, even if he never uses the note D flat in the song. He plays C# dorian over the C# minor and then he just plays C# minor pentatonic over Dmaj7. In the last bit the song modulates to A mixolidian and stays on that key.
I remember hearing this tune for the 1st time in Netherlands (back in 79 !...) in a strange acid state...
It must have been an awesome experience, I'm really jealous!
That lick with the bend at 1:48 is so great. Superb job sir!
Black Napkins is the greatest gift for those who want to shed.
That's so true man!
Brilliant better than the original and we are talking Frank Zappa here joy to watch and hear
Thanks a lot for the comment even though the original still remains unbeatable to me, it's insane to thinks this was an improvised solo, Zappa was from another planet.
@@stefanobertolino9091 Another of my favorite guitarists, Allan Holdsworth, was considered to be an alien from another planet!
awesome playing bro... i like to play Zappa tunes too... suscribing.
Sublime Stefano, you nailed it. I saw FZ in London many moons ago, he had this whippersnapper on stunt guitar called Vai !
Keep up the excellent work.
Greetings from Albion ......... Aindriu
Thank you very much, I'm really jealous that you could see Frank live with Steve, it must have been awesome!
@@stefanobertolino9091 I saw Frank and Steve too in France in 1982 ! Unforgettable show !
Much respect ✊
Amazing Performance ...
Thanks a lot!!
Well done.
That was the best one I’ve heard so far. Lots of work I’m sure. Your the man.
OMFG. Stefano, that was amazing! I was thinking about embarking on a transcription and learning to play this, just to upload it . But I realise now, that it's been done as well as it possibly could be by anyone who isn't Frank. You've clearly listened incredibly closely to the notes, the phrasing, and which position on the neck each phrase should be played on. And then pulled off this performance. Just bravo!
Thanks man, I really appreciate that. As you said, I took a lot of time to learn all the phrases one by one, slowing down the track a lot but I really love this song and it was worth it, especially because you can understand the complexity of Frank's playing a lot more. I'm really glad you liked it!
@@stefanobertolino9091 Aside from the feeling of accomplishment of mastering something like this, I think that's one of the big benefits of learning a solo - you get more insight into the playing of another guitarist.
You did it good!
10/10!
Ogni tanto ritorno qui a gustarmi le tue cover di Zappa e SOLO ADESSO MI SONO RESO CONTO DEL POSTER DI MGS3!! FRATELLO! Tu si che sei un tipo giusto, che Godjima sia con te.
Ahahah beh allora ci capiamo, Hideo è il mio game developer preferito in assoluto e MGS3 è penso nella mia top 3 di sempre :) spoilerino, tra qualche giorno potrai goderti una cover in più di Zappa, qualcosa bolle in pentola!
This is spot on and so awesome !
Bravo!!!!
Where's the love button? This is very impressive and I love Frank Zappa so I'm not easily impressed! Thank you for your hard work on this and for sharing it!
Thanks, I really wanted to do justice to this amazing song, I'm so glad you liked it!
Brilliant
In the first 10 seconds of the video it was inevitable that I would like it. Congratulations!
Nei primi 10 secondi del video era inevitabile che mi piacesse. Congratulazioni!
Nos 10 primeiros segundos do vídeo ficou inevitável que eu desse um like. Parabéns!
Fantastic, to-the-letter cover of a very challenging solo!
Damn that is a fire cover my friend.
Great
I enjoyed that, very much. Thank you, for sharing.
Thank you for watching!!
Nicely done. Also check out the violin solo by Silvia Martins. Frank would have been proud.
Wonderfully done!!
I've of my favorite Zappa solos. Follwed by Penquin in Bondage, Carolina Hardcore Estacy and Inca Road. You nailed it! It was a pleasure to watch.
Thanks man, there's also a cover of Inca Roads on my channel if you want :)
Impresionante 👏👏👏👏👏
That was really something else, and at 2:30 it almost sounded like you were playing underwater, just incredible playing
Thanks man, I worked a lot to get the sound right, especially in the middle section with that crazy modulation effect, glad you liked it!
@@stefanobertolino9091 what is going on there effect wise?? i am entranced. is it just fuzz and wah? or what the hell is going on. it’s so beautiful
@@jakerinker8522 It's a "sample and hold" effect. Keeley Bubbletron or EQD Spatial Delivery will do that
Show de bola mano o melhor cover da música que eu pude ouvir até agora e essa música é muito foda, não me canso de ouvir!
This is such a fantastic cover! Incredible work!