Zappa joined his first band, The Ramblers, at Mission Bay High School in San Diego. He was the band's drummer.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.R&B singles were early purchases, starting a large collection he kept for the rest of his life. He was interested in sounds for their own sake, particularly the sounds of drums and other percussion instruments. By age 12, he had obtained a snare drum and began learning the basics of orchestral percussion.Zappa's deep interest in modern classical music began when he read a 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 Varese, Volume One. The article described Varese's percussion composition Ionisation, produced by EMS Recordings, as "a weird jumble of drums and other unpleasant sounds". Zappa decided to seek out Varese's music. After searching for over a year, Zappa found a copy (he noticed the LP because of the "mad scientist" looking photo of Varese on the cover). Not having enough money with him, he persuaded the salesman to sell him the record at a discount.Thus began his lifelong passion for Varese's music and that of other modern classical composers.
Zappa grew up influenced by avant-garde composers such as Varese, Igor Stravinsky and Anton Webern, R&B and doo-wop groups (particularly local pachuco groups), and modern jazz. His own heterogeneous ethnic background, and the diverse social and cultural mix in and around greater Los Angeles, were crucial in the formation of Zappa as a practitioner of underground music and of his later distrustful and openly critical attitude towards "mainstream" social, political and musical movements. He frequently lampooned musical fads like psychedelia, rock opera and disco.Television also exerted a strong influence, as demonstrated by quotations from show themes and advertising jingles found in his later works.