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Hey all,
We've talked about the Confirmation head a few times on the board. It's something I've worked on a lot, and have offered to demonstrate the fingerings I've come up with to be able to play it at tempo. I think somebody took me up on the offer, so I finally got around to making the videos.
I figured it out about seven years ago, but a year or two ago I decided I wanted to get it more accurate and match the phrasing and accents, so my process was this:
I isolated phrases and took some time to try to get each note and rhythm as accurate as possible
I looked at where the accents and slurs were and tried to (with compromises) match that articulation on the guitar
I tried a variety of fingerings and sometimes right hand approaches to see what was easiest.
This is what I've come up with, but I haven't done a hardcore review of it in a while, so some things might be a little off from where I got it initially. Either way, I think it sounds good and clean and I can play it at gigs and jam sessions.
Here's the transcription (for some reason Noteflight's playback isn't great at handling the grace notes):
Noteflight - Confirmation
Here's me playing the head:
Here's a slower demo of the fingerings and slurs:
Last edited by JakeAcci; 11-09-2017 at 03:36 PM.
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06-09-2012 12:29 PM
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This is more than just a little beyond my current abilities, but I enjoyed watching anyways. I liked your approach, and I think your adaptation to guitar works nicely and sounds great.
I hadn't heard of Noteflight before. In your experience, how well does it work compared to the established desktop offerings (Sibelius, Finale, MuseScore, Guitar Pro, etc)? It's unfortunate that they use Flash, but it looks like they're moving towards HTML5, so I'll have to check them out again in a while.
After watching your videos, I followed some of the related links, found a very nice animated sheet version of Confirmation:
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Thank you! I'm going to dig into this tomorrow. It's one of those tricky heads where it's hard to find a working fingering. I know we talked about this in an earlier thread, and for a moment I thought you had forgot about it.
I'm glad to see you decided to share your discovery.
Watching the videos now I can see you've gone into detail getting the articulation right.I'm going to have a great time with this!Last edited by AmundLauritzen; 06-09-2012 at 03:57 PM.
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Cool videos. I've been working on this tune recently too and finally have the head down (not full speed yet though - I max out around 152 bpm). Personally I play it higher on the neck with my "tone centre" being F played on the G string at the 10th fret, so I'm mostly on the G, B and D strings - I find it easier to finger up there with less up and down motion required. But I'm also learning it on the higher string set as you have played it so that I can get a better feel for the actual notes.
Just this morning I figured out the 4-bar piano intro by ear (from the Bird version). It's really interesting but I'm still trying to figure out what "chords" he's outlining. I think it's (C7 pickup)| F7 | Bbm7 | A7/D7 | G7/C7 | Fmaj.... EDIT: ACTUALLY, I THINK IT'S (C7)|Fmaj F7| Bbm | Am/D7 | Gm/C7 | Fmaj...
I know this is a little off-topic, but Jake do you think I described the intro chords accurately? I'm learning this tune all by ear so I don't want to view any transcriptions (not sure they'd have the intro anyway).Last edited by coolvinny; 06-09-2012 at 11:28 PM.
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Hey Jake... very nice. It's pretty funny how many different versions or notated versions there are of the head. I just pulled out the H Leonard, newer version and compared to 1st Berklee book... as I read through.... the Turns are spelled out different. Think the new Leonard needs revisions.
Anyway just interested... does the fingering work with out watching the neck, as I read through, don't know head, haven't played in a while but noticed that I somewhat naturally stayed in fewer positions.
I liked your articulations and phrasing, again great version.
Hey cool vinnie... pretty sure the intro was B-7b5 Bb-7, A-7 Ab-7, G-7 Gb7, Fmaj. with F pedal on top, pretty standard intro.
Reg
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This is incredibly helpful, thanks... this might actually spur me to learn this one, although it does still look intimidating.
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Thanks JazzReggie!
Originally Posted by JazzReggie
Noteflight is free and incredibly easy to use, but I think it costs money now if you want to save more than 10 scores or so - you can always just print them and delete them. It is limited in comparison to those other programs, but it's so incredibly easy to just open up and start using, with the help of the FAQ or main help file. I really like it, very intuitive. Also cool to be able to send playback links so easily.
You're welcome, Amund. Yes now I remember it was you, cool. I put it on my list and was planning on practicing the head again for a while before making a video, but then I figured if I kept on putting it off it would just never get done, so here it is! If you work through it please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions. Originally Posted by AmundLauritzen
I just gave it a few listens, so I probably missed somethings but it sounds like: Originally Posted by coolvinny
F major triad (spread - F C A, maybe?)
Bb with a G note and Db on top (Bbm6)
A with a G note
Ab with a Gb note
Gm7
C7#5/E
That's just from a few listens - I'm curious now so maybe later I will try to pick things out more accurately.
Yeah there are different Bird recordings too, so that changes the transcription obviously. For what it's worth, mine is from the recording posted in JazzReggie's video. Originally Posted by Reg
A lot of the time these heads are transcribed terribly in the old real books...I think technology helps a lot in getting these more accurately (for those that are interested in playing it accurately.)
Hm, yeah, just gave that a shot, no problem. Probably just looking at the neck in the vid for concentration. I know you've pointed out that it's probably not great for the neck/spine to have the head turned and looking at the neck, good call, thanks.Anyway just interested... does the fingering work with out watching the neck,
Thanks Reg!I liked your articulations and phrasing, again great version.
The next step for this for me is/will be getting the time feel and groove happening more - it is technically challenging enough to play and with enough variety of rhythmic values that it's hard to really "feel" it. Playing along with the original is good, I should do it more - I tend to play on or ahead of the beat in comparison to somebody like Bird, and it's something I want to have better control of.
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Cool, my aim is to be helpful, for sure. Originally Posted by Rich Cochrane
The big challenges here I think are performing the rhythms and trills accurately, and mainly the left hand skill for all the slurs and faster parts.
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Great job Jake, that one has been on my transcription list for a few years. your very clean video is easy to watch and your "slowed down" info will be very helpful. Thanks very much for posting.
wiz
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Excellent. Thank you!
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very good jake, i like the chords you throw in too. i play this too but in the lower octave, think i'll give it a try
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Glad you see and hear you teaching, Jake. Keep it up.
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On the intro, Reg is right. One bar of the Bm7b5, one bar of Bm7, then Am/Abm, Gm/Gb7, and into Fmaj as bar 1 of the tune.
I've taken on the project of learning Bird's solo by ear - wow, this is not easy stuff. The flurry of 256th notes (ish) in bars 6-8 nearly caused my brain to explode, but I'm determined to learn it because, despite the blazing speed, when Bird plays that stuff it still sounds really musical. I've got those notes figured out now but the articulations have to be jusssst right or else it sounds terrible.
I will post a video in three lifetimes once I have it done and up to speed...
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I gave it some more time and got
F6 (F D A)
Bb with a G note and Db on top (Bbm6)
A with a G note
Ab with a Gb note
Gm7
Gb9
so I did hear the Gb on the bass for the last chord, but definitely Bbm6 for the second, and I didn't hear a B note on the first chord.
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Hi Jake - you could totally be right (I didn't mean to imply that you were wrong). I actually didn't really listen for root notes - I was trying to hear how he was outlining the changes based on the other notes. Also, just in terms of articulation, it seems to me that the first two "chords" being implied are each a bar long, then the chords only have 2 beats for the last two bars (which I think you have also). Originally Posted by JakeAcci
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Oh I see. I was just talking about the held notes, ignoring the right hand line. I put the tune into a program and isolated chords even EQing it to hear the bass notes better.
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I've been working on Confirmation from The Real Book, 5th ed. Please clarify and correct me if needed. My understanding is that the tune is AABA. Okay, so in the 2nd A section in my edition the melody appears to differ greatly from the the 1st A. So I'm assuming that this a transcription of the head as played by Bird on "Now's the Time"--the album listed at bottom of page. This is not a rhythm changes tune. Is this another type of contrafact? My listening reference is from "The Essential Charlie Parker" on Verve where it lists a "master take." (I haven't studied the recorded head line with what's on the lead sheet yet.) What other recordings are there of Bird playing the tune?--live vs. studio, etc. Some side-by-side for comparison would be fun. Thanks to all. Originally Posted by Reg
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