"Affirmed" by Nathan Salsburg

Friends:

This post is in response to our last round of audience feedback. Several of you recommended something by Nathan Salsburg, this is a thank you for participating in the process!

The choice to pick the title track of his first album may seem contrived, but it was in fact the first piece I listened to when initially going through his catalog. I spent some time listening to the first three solo records and kept coming back to this track. The tempo is not overbearing, there are many great melodies, and I felt despite the length of the track, this is a piece many here would be able to tackle.

"Affirmed" was recorded in a C# tuning, C# G# C# E# C# E#, with a capo on the first fret. One should note the close similarity to the more typical open C tuning, C G C G C E. Only the third string is altered. His performance of "Affirmed" on the 2012 Tiny Desk appearance is very close to the recorded version with only one significant variation and one or two minor variations in form. He is tuned slightly flat of C# in that performance. For my performance the guitar is tuned lower, I did not necessarily dial in to an exact pitch, I just tuned where the strings felt comfortable and I was getting the resonance I was looking for. I am playing the 35 000-18 in my video. A note regarding the tuning. E# is the enharmonic equivalent to F. Because this is a C# tuning the notes should reflect the fact that the tuning is comprised of a C#-major triad, C# E# and G#. Despite this being the correct way to write the tuning, I worry some will become dismayed when they can't find E# on their tuner. For this reason, the decision was made to write the tuning on the score as C# G# C# F C# F.

There is only one chord that I found to be problematic and assume others might as well. Most of the G chords in the composition use a common diminished fingering on the top four strings at the second fret with the thumb wrapped around the neck, but in measures 38-39 and 127-129 he goes into the G chord from a D chord first which requires a different fingering for a smooth transition. This necessitates a partial bar on strings 2-4 and a thumb over the neck for the D chord. He then adds the 2nd and 3rd fingers to morph it into a G chord. This was very difficult for me so I altered the fingering, I describe it briefly in the lesson video. Others may have difficulty with the common G shape used in the piece, the same modified fingering or one of your choice could be used in those instances.

The meter changes in the piece only account for extended phrases thereby keeping new phrases on the downbeat. Swung eighths are used throughout the piece.

The lesson video can be accessed using this link:
https://youtu.be/FS0Kq6DXy-E

The score is attached below. Enjoy!