Brown Out, Light Bulb Comes On

Music accomplishments seem to come from nowhere.  Tonight (Tuesday night) I was sitting at my church waiting for the ukulele jam I host to start.  I was early, no one was around, and a brownout hits the church.  Dark, holding my uke, Mary (Kala Tenor), in the basement and I can't see.  After a minute of fumbling my way towards the light, I end up sitting on the steps in front of a door waiting a few minutes for the lights to decide to come back on.

Screw it, I'm here by myself, let's do something weird to practice.  I start playing "Exactly Like You", one of my favorite tunes, and working out a solo.  I've long noticed how I can sub in notes not in the regular key (I play ELY in C major) to create some cool tension in the solo.  However, some of the talk about modal improvisation was really lost on me.  I'd taken a couple workshops and woodshedded modes for hours, but I just never got it to click.

The lights came on...  About that time, I decided to play a solo over the A section using all seven of the modes of C one at a time.  This is going to sound abstract if you aren't familiar with the modal system, so here is a quick overview:

Modes are just the major scale starting in different places:

C	Major/Ionian	C D E F G A B
D	Dorian	D E F G A B C
E	Phrygian	E F G A B C D
F	Lydian	F G A B C D E
G	Mixolydian	G A B C D E F
A	Aeolian	A B C D E F G
B	Locrian	B C D E F G A

You can also keep them all with the relative same starting note (they'll just be in a different major key):

C	Major/Ionian	C D E F G A B
C	Dorian	C D Eb F G A Bb
C	Phrygian	C Db Eb F G Ab Bb
C	Lydian	C D E F# G A B
C	Mixolydian	C D E F G A Bb
C	Aeolian	C D Eb F G Ab Bb
C	Locrian	C Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb

That is the theory anyway, I have trouble thinking all of that nonsense, though when I play.  I learned long ago to think about it instead in terms of the numbers.  Basically, 1 is major, 2 is dorian, 3 is Phrygian, etc.  That and look at it on the fretboard in a certain way.  Let me show you what I mean:

If you are really paying attention, you will notice that there are only five different shapes/fingerings here.  That is the part of the point, you can go a long way only using those five shapes for soloing.

Now, back to the light coming on...

I played "ELY" while using each of these shapes (one at a time).  So, I only used notes from these shapes.  Some sounded great, others sounded good occasionally, some I just couldn't make it sound good.  But, the effect was tremendous to me.  Each of the different modes had it's own flavor and each left me feeling a different way about the mood of the tune (even when that wasn't the most pleasant sound throughout).

A next step for me was trying to play different shapes over different chords, but still thinking about it being a mode of C.

For instance, the A section of "ELY" is:

| C / / /

| C / / /

| D7 / / /

| D7 / / /

| G7 / / /

| G7 / / /

| C / / /

| C / / / |

(You could add a turn around at the end if you wanted...)

Over the C major chords, I played either a major/ionian shape or a dorian.  Over the D7 I played lydian and over the G7 I played mixolydian.  This is by no means a set in stone approach, but it gave me a new way of toying with the solos I was developing.

In swing, solos have to hint or reflect the melody.  If we get to far off of that, the listeners (and in many cases, the dancers) get lost and we don't want to loose them.  The idea I'm playing with above is a little departed from the basic melody, but when you look at the melody of "ELY", you find that in many points along the tune it follows much of the same ideas.  In fact, I kept finding myself resolving to melody notes as I worked through my newly crafted solos.

Now, I want to fast forward to around 8:00 as we were doing our jam.  My ukulele group is light on soloists.  Most of the players are strummers and they like to sing along if they know the words.  (And let me be absolutely clear that there is nothing wrong with that.)  So, I am often the one who gets called to take a solo when it comes around.  And when we played the great Hank Williams tune "You're Cheatin' Heart", I was chompin' at the bit to get my solo in.

It was rough at first as I started straight in on the new idea and didn't let the melody in.  Once I did, I started jumping off for just little fills on long holds.  Before I knew it, I was in and out of modes quick, using all of my fretboard, and generally playing one of the funnest solos I've improvised in a long time.  All in the key of A (which I hadn't tackled yet; remember "ELY" is in C)!

So here is the conclusion: Melodies are the hardy soup base for solos.  But the spices and hardy stuff comes from knowing how to use those scales.  So, practice both and do things that seem weird at first.  It will eventually turn on the light.

Folk Alliance Music Camp: Getting Closer

As I've been getting closer to the February Music Camp, I've been refining my Swing Guitar Lesson and getting more and more excited.  Then, the other day I get in contact with one of the organizers and discover that not only will I be giving a workshop on Swing Guitar, but I will also be doing one on Swing Ukulele (as well as leading a few Ukulele jams).

No details are set yet, but I've already had to send in a synopsis of each lesson.  The trick was, I'm don't really have the Ukulele workshop written yet!!!


Now, I'm scrambling a little to get my draft finished so I can iron it out.

The cool thing is, I've never really thought about Swing Ukulele the same way I do Swing Guitar.  Because of the regular repertoire inherent in the Ukulele culture, which is very saturated with swing tunes as much as it is with folk and classic rock, I've always felt Swing Ukulele was sort of a natural part of any Ukulele player's repertoire.

But, now I'm really looking at it.  I'm breaking down what I do already and what I find myself working on in this genre.  What I'm finding is that there really are some differences between just playing Ukulele and playing Swing Ukulele.  What is even more astounding to me is the amount of differences I've finding between Swing Guitar and Swing Ukulele!

Eventually, I'll post a lot of my findings and ultimately my lesson here.  But for now, I think I need to concentrate on writing and polishing both lessons and getting ready for the upcoming awesomeness of the Folk Alliance Music Camp!

~Danny

Swing Guitar - Part Nine

The Soloing primer

As an additional appendix to the swing guitar workshop, I wanted to provide students with the bare bones approach to soloing so they would have a jumping off point.  That being said, the truth is sort of grim:  There is no easy method to soloing.  Every method I have ever seen or studied takes time and effort to master.  That said, when I got started in soloing (which wasn't long ago) I found a few things pushed me ahead further than others.  Here are a few of those techniques.

First and foremost, I can't recommend enough that you learn the melody (also referred to as the head) to any song you are soloing over.  The melody is full of every element that will make a solo sound good and should NOT be overlooked as a starting place.  In fact, in many styles of music (i.e.: bluegrass, swing) playing the "head" of the song perfectly is considered to be the best solo you could possibly do.

In order to get the dexterity up and muscle memory to really make learning melodies easy and then creating solos, the best place I know to start is the major scale and its modes.  Now, I'm not going to advocate that you spend hours and hours trying to remember and play each of the modes by name.  However, I do advocate learning to see the major scale in five positions on the neck.  This is how I approach it and it has done me a ton of good.

Basically, we are playing the major scale and extending it across the finger board both up and down as far as we can while staying within a given position.  Each of the positions is named for the degree of the scale which they start on.  So, for shape 5, we start on G since G is the 5th degree of the C major scale.

After you have mastered the five positions, a good next step is to work through arpeggios within those shapes.  Arpeggios are another lesson altogether so we won't get too much into it here.  But, they are incredibly useful as a soloing tool since they will basically outline the chord changes in a tune as you play!

But don't stop there!  As you go, you should look for other scales to build solos from as well.  Scales like minor and major pentatonics, harmonic minors, whole tones, and blues scales just to name a few.  With each new scale, try to play solos using only those scales and really work it up in the woodshed.

Another key part of soloing is building speed.  The best way I know to do this is to go slow and use a metronome.  Remember that guitar playing is just like any other physical activity in that we have to build up muscle memory in order to sort of automate ourselves.  By practicing things slowly and accurately, you will build up that muscle memory so that when you speed things up, you will be more accurate and sound better.

Lastly, just a couple of notes on practicing.  We live in a very fortunate age as musicians because we have access to some awesome practice tools that our predecessors didn't.  Namely, computers and all the great things they do.  I use an iPad when I practice and it has helped a lot.  That said, you don't necessarily need one.  But, assuming you have computer access since you are reading this, I would say you need to have the following:

- Tuner
   * Either a clip on or something on your computer/iPad/iPhone
- Metronome
   * I use one on my iPhone/iPad
   * Small units can be gotten fro $20 at most music shops
   * There are numerous free online metronomes
- Recording software
   * I use Soundcloud and DAW
   * You could also use a digital recorder or a micro cassette recorder
- Backing track software
   * I use iReal Pro and it is amazing for the price.
   * There is also Band in a Box, but it is pricier.
   * I have also found one or two free online backing track makers that are useful.

The biggest need on that list (outside of a tuner of course) is something that you can use as a play along.  Whether you are typing in chord changes that the computer plays back (iReal Pro, Band in a Box, etc) or recording yourself using a digital recorder (or Soundcloud, DAW, etc), having some way to play over changes (chord progressions) is a must.  Once you get a certain shape or scale memorized enough that you can play it fairly regularly, then start trying to play that scale up against a play along backing track.  This way, you can start to hear how the notes line up with the chords.

~Danny

Swing Guitar - Part Eight

My eighth installment of Beginning Swing Guitar is going to be a bit of a review and give you some good reference material to get you moving forward with chords.

So far, we have taken most of our chords from two basic families.  Knowing these two families intimately will be invaluable to you over time and make chord building very easy to do on the fly.

Before we get too far along, take a look at this reference chart.

I've blocked out the regular dominate 7 chords in solid dots and left some relevant intervals (such as b3 or b5) to give you some reference.  You can use this chart to quickly learn and find different qualities of chords.  Use it as a reference at first and then start trying to remember the chords.

Building Extensions

To build extended chords we need to understand what we are meaning by that.  Basically, an extended chord is one beyond a simple 7th chord.  You may have seen these are 9ths, 11ths, or 13ths.  To create one of those chords, we need to understand what the 9th, 11th, and 13th interval is.  Basically, just keep counting.
 

C	D	E	F	G	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	A	B	C
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15

So, if we wanted to add a 9 to a chord to get a nice swingy sound, we would simply find the 9th degree of the scale and put that in the chord.  Since the 9 is the same as the two, we will often replace the root chord with a 9 by going up from the root two frets.  We used that in the previous lesson where a 5-4-3-2 shape with the 3rd in the base became a 9 chord.

Try playing around with the chord shapes, their qualities, and some extensions and putting them into your rhythm playing.

Swing Guitar: Part Seven

This is part five of my Swing Guitar Workshop which I will be teaching at the Folk Alliance Winter Music Camp this coming February.  Make sure to visit their website and get signed up for the camp.  There will be tons of great classes from local and national musicians on all types of music.

That Extra Something

When playing either solo or as an accompanist to another instrument it is sometimes a good idea to really try to take a song a long way to really bring out some of the chord movements.  This is particularly true with swing guitar.  To illustrate, let's take one last look at "Six Foot One" and see what else can be done.

A great move that I learned early on is one that moves from one chord to another that is a fourth away.  This particular move is designed around a moving bass note that is traveling up the scale from the starting chord to its fourth.  In "Six Foot One", we have two measures of A7 that eventually goes to a D7.  This is a perfect spot for this move.



Another move that we can use in this tune which is equally useful when moving a fourth is one that utilizes a 9 chord.  Check out this example:



Now, let's put that all together:



Here is a video to explain what is going on here.

Swing Guitar: Part Six

Simple Moving Bass Notes

Six Foot One is a good example of a tune that we can use the simple concept of alternating bass notes.  As in many forms of music, bass lines can be very simple in Swing (they can also be very complicated walking bass styles). 

Alternating bass usually refers to alternating between the root (or tonic) note of a chord and the fifth as the bass of the chord.  To create the alternating bass style we are going to use a couple of chord shapes that we have already seen together.

If you don't remember the chords to Six Foot One, here is a refresher.

Now, let's look at how we alternate those bass lines.




And the video...

Notice how the alternating bass line moves the rhythm of the song.  This is really useful technique for adding that sort of moving or driving sound to your playing.

A word of caution, though...  When playing with a bass player, this sort of movement can really get in the way of the overall sound.  It's important to let the bass player be a bass player.  Just like it is important for them to let you be a guitar player!

That said, in ensembles where there is not a bass player, and especially when you are playing solo or accompanying a soloist, this method is really useful.  Just to play around with it, try not using a pick and just using your fingers!!!

~Danny

Swing Guitar: Part Five

This is part five of my Swing Guitar Workshop which I will be teaching at the Folk Alliance Winter Music Camp this coming February.  Make sure to visit their website and get signed up for the camp.  There will be tons of great classes from local and national musicians on all types of music.

Six Foot One, Tons of Fun

Again, we need to change names around.  I'm betting you know the tune. It's FIVE times as fun as a FOOTball game played by TWO leprechauns.

Hehe...

This tune makes a great teaching platform from the Circle of Fifths because it basically follows the circle in a dominant cycle.  Plus, after we learn the regular tune, we will come back to this and look at it with some fun bass note stuff in another lesson.

made with iRealb

 Just in case you didn't know, the symbol "N.C." in the last two measures of the B section mean "No Chord".  Basically, after you play the G7, there is a break there.  When I play solo, sometimes I will mute all the strings and strum (or scratch as I call it) to the bit to keep time.

Take a look at this handout I'm using for the class for an explanation of the chord shapes that I will be using.

Now, here is the example via SoundCloud:



Take a look at this and play around with it. We will get some variations into the tune in a future lesson.  In the mean time, if you have any questions, feel free to ask!

~Danny

Swing Guitar: Part Four

This is the fourth installment of my series on Swing Guitar comping.  As I've mentioned before, this is my prep work for an upcoming workshop that I will be teaching for the Folk Alliance's winter conference.  Check them out for more information. I hope to see you there!

This lesson will focus on a tool that musicians of every level and genre use: The Circle of Fifths.

I talked a little in previous lessons about how this was used in terms of dominant cycles.  This will be just a brief explanation of how to use the Circle of Fifths as a comping tool and as a reference tool.  There are so many different uses of the Circle that I won't be able to cover all of them here, but I do hope to give you a good working explanation as well as how to use it in Swing Guitar.

What's a Fifth

When we say a fifth, we are talking about an interval between two notes.  In this case, a root (or tonic) note and the fifth degree (or note) on a scale.

To find that fifth, we count the root as one and work our way up the scale.  In the key of C, the fifth note is G.  To build our circle, we keep doing this until we come back to C natural.  In all, there are twelve notes (just like there are twelve positions on a clock; weird!).


The Circle

As a cool little mathematical (read: magic) result, by moving through the twelve notes around in fifths, when we reverse it, we are working in fourths!  Notice that "F" is the fourth degree of the C major scale.

Minor chords

As a reference, many people who use the Circle tend to group the relative minors of each key/chord with the majors already listed.  To find a relative minor, we simply count up six notes on the major scale.  Notice that would be "A" on the C major scale so we use Am.

Below is the circle with the relative minors written in for you.

Dominant Cycle Exercises


Learning to use the Circle as a practice tool can making learning new chords shapes, progressions, scales, arpeggios, licks, or any other melodic or rhythmic device a lot more fun.   Here are some ideas on how to use dominant cycles for practice:

Scales
- Choose a scale such as a mode of the major scale
- Use one fingering to play the scale in C
- Move a fifth to play the scale in G
- Keep moving in fifths around the circle
- Do the same as above moving in fourths

Chord Progressions
- Pick a progression in C keeping chords within two or three frets
- Move a fifth to G and play it again
- Keep moving until you have gone around the circle
- Do this again moving in fourths

Chord Shapes
- Pick a chord shape you are trying to master
- Play the C version of the shape
- Move a fifth to G and play it again
- Keep moving until you have gone around the circle
- Do this again moving in fourths

Again, working in dominant cycles in a great way to learn the relationships of different chords and notes.  And by playing though exercises using the circle, you will inevitably learn the fretboard as well.

Backcycling

Last but not least, I wanted to share something that makes the circle really useful in jazz.  Backcycling is  method of following the chords of a particular key backwards.  Let's look at the C major scale notes again and then harmonize them.

C - D - E - F - G - A - B

Now Harmonized (make them chords)

Cmaj7 - Dm7 - Em7 - Fmaj7 - G7 - Am7 - Bm7b5

Now, let's put them in order with the circle.  Note that the if we look at C and move around the circle in fifths until we run out of notes on the C major scale, we end with B.  So, that is where we will start.

Bm7b5 - Em7 - Am7 - Dm7 - G7 - Cmaj7 - Fmaj7

Now let's look at the numbers for those chords:

vii - iii - vi - ii - V - I - IV

Here is a look at it with all that on the circle.

 

Notice the ii - V - I in there???  In fact, some tunes you will see this cycle work through from start to finish!  This means that if you can master this harmonization of the circle in all keys you have the bare bones to learn a lot of the jazz and swing repertoire that is out there!

Take a look at all this and have fun with it.  If you have any questions, feel free to post them and I'll do my best to help explain!

~Danny

Swing Guitar: Part Three

This week is the third part of my series on swing guitar comping.  We will be learning our first tune!

Before we get started, there is a bit of confusion to alleviate.  Copyrights are difficult.  Getting your own stuff copyrighted and then knowing how not to infringe on the copyrights of others.  It can get really confusing!  Without getting too technical, the copyright on music here in the U.S. lasts as long as 120 years.  This means, the only music that you can count on being public domain is something that was written 1893 or before (it's 2013 today).  Since most swing music came out of the 20s and 30s, it presents a problem.

Like the tune "Bye Bye Blackbird" which I want to use for this lesson.  Written in 1926, it won't be public domain until 2046.  So, since guitarists are so clever, those of us not wanting to tempt fate will either use the chord progression (always a derivative) and use a clever pseudonym.  For our use, I'm calling this piece that I just wrote "Goodbye, Dark Grey Bird". (I'm hilarious!)

Moving On...

First, the chord chart (and an explanation):

Created Using iRealB

For the most part this isn't just totally hard to understand.  But, there is some symbology that may need to be interpreted. (In the final outline of this class for the conference, I'll probably have already covered it...)

First, the chord symbols are a bit different.  Here is the guide:
G^7 => Gmaj7*
A-7 => Am7

These are very common jazz chord notations.  Get used to seeing them because they are used a lot in swing repertoire.

Also, you see the "%" symbol being used in a measure with no chords.  This symbol means to repeat the previous measure the same way it was played.  Again, just a common short hand that we use.

A couple of other things to point:  This song is a variation on what is know as AABA song form.  It doesn't follow it strictly, but it does follow the sense of that form.  Song forms are similar to rhyme form only in regards to melody and harmony.  Think of it as a "Verse, Verse, Chorus, Verse" form which is common in rock and folk styles.

A key difference in the AABA form of this song from others like it is that usually the A sections are the same (give or take a turnaround or ending).  That's just a good thing to note here.

Now, let's look at the chords we are using:

As I said in the previous lesson, some of our chords do not have a root or tonic note in them.  This is alright as many times we play with a bass player and we can rely on him/her to play that note.  Even solo, we can still play this chord in context and it sounds real good!

How to Practice Tunes

I'm going to assume that you are a beginner level player.  If you aren't, then learning tunes should be easy and you can skip ahead if you like.

The best way I know to practice a tune is to break it up into sections.  For this tune, we have already stated that it is an AABA form. So, take the first A section a few times and play through the chords out of rhythm.  Just strum them to get the movement under you fingers. 

If there are any chords you are having trouble fingering, then go back and forth to them from others until the movement is easy and natural.  This may take some time, but you should concentrate on building that muscle memory.

After you have one section, move to the next doing the same thing until you can easily change chords without much space between.

Now, it is time to start up your rhythm again.  Remember the four-to-the-bar rhythm?  Use that!  Set yourself an easy pace, say 80bpm or so at first.  Play through it making sure to stay at that pace. (USE A METRONOME!)  Once you can go through it easily, up the it by five or ten bpm and keep practicing until you can play it faster than you need to live.

Here is an example of what it should sound like:

Goodbye Dark Grey Bird (Soundcloud)

When you follow that link, notice that Soundcloud does a spectrum thingy (technical jargon) to display a visual of the sound.  In a straight four-to-the-bar comp style, that looks like spikes or fence posts evenly spaced. This was an unintended side effect of recording it on Soundcloud.

Melody

In the workshop, there won't be much talk about working melody and solos, but I figure I should at least give you something. 

My tune doesn't have a melody line listed, but I'm betting you could use the melody to Bye Bye Blackbird here if you wanted.

The first step to soloing is not scales. At least not in swing.  Later, those can be really cool.  In swing, the first step is being able to play the melody in time.  Once you can do that, you can build solos off of the melody using scales, arpeggios, or any other melodic device you want.  But first, LEARN the MELODY!

That's all for this week, let me know if you have any questions!


Foot notes
* The delta symbol is hard for me to type. I can't quite get it.  For now, assume that '^' is the same as a delta triangle.
** Because we rarely play the verses in swing, the A sections are actually choruses and the B is the bridge.

Swing Guitar: Part Two

This is the second in a series of posts about beginning swing guitar comping.  This is also the basic outline of what is to come for a workshop at the Folk Alliance winter music camp here in Kansas City.  If you haven't already, make sure to check the Folk Alliance out and get registered for the camp.  It will be extremely worth it!

In the last post, we talked about our first set of chords.  These were a minor seven, dominant seven, major seven, and sixth chord.  In this lesson, we are going to look at the same chord qualities, only in a different fingering.

Here is the handout of this part of the lesson:

Again, memorize these shapes.  They are extremely useful.

Along with the new chords (top line), I'm also discussing the four possible inversions of the chord and the fact that the root is not always present or on the 6th string.

Inversions are an extremely important part of swing and jazz guitar.  In this genre, we don't learn on shape for every occurrence of a particular chord (like in rock you might always play G the same way).  Instead, we learn certain arrangements of chords and their inversions that we can mover around the neck of the guitar.

Inversions just means a different order of the same notes of the chord.  In the type of chords that we are looking at here, Drop 3 chords, we keep a bass note on the 6th string and play two more chord tones on strings 4 and 3. There are many other chord groups out there that use different arrangements of the strings.

For these chords, since we are using four notes (root, third, fifth, seventh) there are four different inversions.  On the handout, I show you each of the inversions which are used for each of the beginning bass notes (again: root, third, fifth, seventh).

So, why have the inversions at all?  There are really two reasons.  First, we can use inversions to keep chord close together.  This is a technique called voice leading, but can also just be thought of as economy (meaning, not having to move really far for a chord).  Second, when we get to a point of wanting to move a bass line around, knowing your inversions is the first step.

Practice

As I said last lesson, the best way to practice any new progression or new set of chords like this is to use the fifths.  I called it using the Circle of Fifths last time.  More formally, this is known as dominant cycles.  (Moving either in fourths or fifths.)

I don't want to glaze over dominant cycles (especially since it will lead us to one of our tunes in this series), so I will leave a better explanation for another day.

In the mean time, I went a step beyond this week.  Here is a Noteflight document of the chords played using a dominant cycle in four to the bar comping.

ii-V-I Dominant Cycles Drop 3 #2

Okay, if you have any questions on the lesson or any input, please let me know. I'd love to hear from you!

~Danny

Swing Guitar Comping Part One

I got a cool surprise last week when the Folk Alliance asked me to teach a couple of swing guitar workshops.  They are holding their conference and Winter Camp in February of this coming year and, lucky for me, like to use local musicians for teaching whenever possible.  After some showing off on my part at their store in the River Market here in balmy Kansas City, I got an email the other day asking if I would teach to which I obviously said: Yes!

Now, I'm needing to work through the workshop and create all the handouts and tunes info.  So, guess what, viewers.  I'm using you to experiment on!

Both of the workshops will be on beginner swing guitar technique, mostly rhythm (the biggest part of swing is the rhythm).  That said, basic prerequisites will apply:  Guitarists need to be familiar with basic 12 bar blues progressions, be able to play most bar chords, and understand the very basics of the major scale.

Okay, now that we are all on the same page, here we go with the first set of chords from the handout:

Take a look at that and memorize those chords shapes in the second line.  When I play swing guitar, this is my bread and butter.  It's used more often that you'd think.

I did a lot of explaining on the sheet, but there are a few extra little things you should hear to make this really make sense.

First, swing guitar usually exists in a four to the bar rhythm.  So, instead of a more complicated rock rhythm where we would use various sets of quarter notes and eighth notes. we use instead four quarter note strums for each bar.  The strums should be short and not really connected.  Think more like the hit of a snare drum rather than the hit of a cymbal.  The snare is short, the cymbal rings.  We want short.

Also, note that you are not using large six note voicings.  These smaller three note voicings are create a much tighter tone.  The strings "x's" on the chord shape should be muted with your fingers so they do not ring.  However, you do want a little bit of the percussive sound from the pick hitting the string itself.

Here is a short video of what I'm talking about in the four to the bar and muting the strings.

As for practicing, do this progressions in as many keys as you can.  I listed out the notes of the bottom two strings for you, but you should really memorize this so that you can quickly reference it in your head as you play.

Here is a good order for practicing the progression (I'm using the circle of fifths as a guide):

Am7 - D7 - Gmaj7 - G6
Em7 - A7 - Dmaj7 - D6
Bm7 - E7 - Amaj7 - A6
F#m7 - B7 - Emaj7 - E6 <-- This is best done at the twelfth fret
C#m7 - F#7 - Bmaj7 - B6
Abm7 - Db7 - Gbmaj7 - Gb6
Ebm7 - Ab7 - Dbmaj7 - Db6
Bbm7 - Eb7 - Abmaj7 - Ab6
Fm7 - Bb7 - Ebmaj7 - Eb6
Cm7 - F7 - Bbmaj7 - Bb6
Gm7 - C7 - Fmaj7 - F6
Dm7 - G7 - Cmaj7 - C6

As I noted above, when you get low enough on the fretboard that the shapes used require open strings, jump up an octave (12 frets) and work the shapes there.  This will actually make it easier to play in this style.

If you have any questions on this lesson, make sure to either email me or post a comment.  I'd be happy to answer anything you got.  Also, look for the next part of this series of lessons to be coming soon.

~Danny

P.S.: This occurred to me while recording the video.  We go from the Maj7 to the 6th chord during the four bars of comping as a way of keeping the movement going.  There is a more complicated explanation I could give, but this will due for now.