You keep hearing bebop heads like Charlie Parker’s “Confirmation” over and over again, but you just can’t play them on the bass. That’s because you’re using the fingerings from the old method, jumping all over the place to find the notes in first and half position.
Quick answer
Use the open strings. Start in second position and use an open string to move up the neck, because without open strings the head is very difficult. Play it relaxed and flowing, like the records. To solo, use the first melody note on each chord as a guide tone and target note.
We take Bird tunes for granted. These are some of the greatest tunes in all music, not just jazz. They contain so much harmony, so much counterpoint, so much rhythm, so much great information we can use in our solos. Here’s how I play the “Confirmation” head on upright bass, and then how I use that same melody to solo.
How do you play the Confirmation head on upright bass?
I start in second position and reach up to grab the C. Then I use an open string to grab the D higher up, and I use that D to go up even higher. I love open strings. They’re so useful, especially for playing melodies like this. The open strings are what enable us to move around the fingerboard.
A lot of people try to play these bebop heads without the open strings, and that’s where it gets tricky. Without them, this melody would be very different and difficult. Try that first part at home. It’s very satisfying once you can play it.
It also comes down to knowing the whole bass. When I played “Confirmation” with the old-method fingerings to show the difference, I was jumping all over the place. In the position I actually play it in, I barely moved. The reason I can play “Confirmation” without even thinking about it is that I know the whole bass, including the positions we always ignore. That’s what The New Simandl is for. The old method is great for learning first and half position, and the new one teaches the other 75% of the bass that we love to forget.
One more thing about the opening: I’m not articulating every note. I’m using a roll. If I articulated it, it wouldn’t sound good, and it doesn’t sound like that on the record. Bird is doing that roll on saxophone. I don’t play saxophone, so I don’t know how they do it there, but I know how to imitate it on bass.
Play bebop relaxed
Some people play bebop like it’s an aggressive, driving thing. If you actually listen to the bebop records, it doesn’t sound like that at all. It sounds relaxed. It sounds smooth and flowing.
This is a beautiful melody, and it sounds flowing and almost free. Bird really played like a free player. So when you play it, keep it smooth and relaxed, because that’s how they’re playing it on the record.
The bridge sounds tougher than it is
The bridge sounds difficult, but it’s actually not that bad. You have to jump from the C to the B right away. Then look at how Bird gets from F7 to B-flat major 7. That’s such a clever way to play F7 to B-flat major 7. It’s like classical harmony with strong bebop rhythm. Just that one bar is mind-blowing, and you can use it in your solos. Forget about the scales. Just use that.
Then there’s a part that’s really tough. I can play it because I have a lot of chops, but if you can’t yet, that’s fine. You can substitute. If you listen to the bebop recordings, you can hear that a lot of the time they’re missing notes, especially younger Miles. That’s not a slight at Miles Davis, and I’m not offending the tradition. It’s what you hear on the recordings. So you don’t have to play every single note, as long as the rhythms are there. When I played the bridge that way in the lesson, I missed about half of the notes, and you didn’t notice, because the rhythms and the feeling were there. I was still playing the melody.
Bird ends the bridge with something so clever, a sharp five. That’s tension and release right there, and those little moments of tension and release are what make this tune so special.
How do you solo on Confirmation with the melody notes?
Now the harmony. To improvise on this tune, I use the melody notes for each chord. By that I mean the first note of the melody on each chord, the note Bird chose as his first note. On the opening F chord, that’s an A, the third.
He obviously chose these notes for a reason, and they’re a great vehicle for improvising. I use them as guide tones and as target notes, and I really focus on them. When I soloed using just those notes in the lesson, it was a good solo already. I wasn’t even thinking about jazz vocabulary. It really doesn’t have to be that difficult, as long as you learn the melody and understand what the important notes in it are.
My favorite note of all time is in this tune. I love the extensions, and I love the dissonance that note creates, the tension and release.
We play Bird tunes and just get through them so we can play a solo. But this tune is a solo.
You play the melody beautifully, that’s a solo. And then you improvise on the melody. Theme and variation. That’s all you need.
Cole Davis
Using the melody as the raw material for your solo is a big part of my jazz improvisation primer. And for another Parker head, look at Billie’s Bounce on bass, where the fingering decides whether it swings.
Practice it today
- The first part. Learn the opening of the melody using the open strings to move around the fingerboard.
- Relax it. Play it smooth and flowing, the way it sounds on the record, not aggressive.
- Keep the rhythm. If a spot in the bridge is beyond you for now, keep the rhythm and leave some notes out.
- Guide tones. Find the first melody note on each chord and improvise using those as your targets.
My lesson on Charlie Parker: Confirmation goes through the open strings that make the head playable on upright and how to turn the melody into your solo.
Play the first part of the melody with the open strings tonight. Once you can play it, it’s very satisfying.
Go deeper
Charlie Parker: Confirmation
The full lesson: the open strings that make the Confirmation head playable on upright, and how to turn its melody into your solo.
FAQ
Is Confirmation difficult to play on bass?
Without the open strings, it would be very different and difficult. A lot of people try to play bebop heads like this without the open strings, and that’s where it gets tricky. When I played it with the old-method fingerings in first and half position, I was jumping all over the place. In the position I play it in, I barely had to move.
Do I have to play every note of the Confirmation bridge?
No. If a passage is beyond you for now, keep the rhythm and leave some notes out. Listen to the bebop recordings and you’ll hear that a lot of the time they’re missing notes, especially younger Miles. When I played the bridge that way in the lesson, I missed about half the notes, and you didn’t notice, because the rhythms and the feeling were there.
How should bebop heads like Confirmation feel?
Relaxed. Some people play bebop like it’s an aggressive, driving thing, but if you actually listen to the bebop records, it sounds relaxed, smooth and flowing. Bird really played like a free player. And use a roll in the opening rather than articulating every note, the way Bird does it on saxophone.
Is the Confirmation melody a solo by itself?
In a way, yes. We play Bird tunes and just get through them so we can play a solo, but this tune is a solo. You play the melody beautifully, that’s a solo, and then you improvise on the melody. Theme and variation. That’s all you need.
