Based on the Charlie Parker standard “Confirmation”, and featured on my solo guitar recording Indigo, this étude combines a number of exciting harmonic concepts such as reharmonization, tritone substitution, and bitonality together with double stops and rapid fire single note bebop lines, harmonized lines in tenths, counterpoint, and multiple parts in a solo guitar context.
“Confirmation” is an interesting tune because according to Spellman (NEA), it catches Charlie Parker at a time when the basic kinks had been worked out of bebop, but it’s still very, very fresh. Bird is still in his twenties, and he’s working with other musicians, for the most part, who are still in their twenties. And they’re all very much alive.