Last time we looked at some new chords you can throw into your 12-bar blues rhythms to spice up the sound. This lesson we will be looking at turnarounds. A turnaround is something that typically happens over the last 2 bars of the progression or sometimes even over all four of the final bars.
Being a great example of this. This is a staple of blues music and even if you are not familiar with the terminology, you will certainly know the sound of a turnaround.
The name of this phrase has a very literal meaning, in that you are “turning around” the repeated rhythmic pattern back to the first chord with a slight melodic variation. A turnaround in blues is a great way to add some depth to the rhythm parts and is also used as a way to end the song.
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One of the most common traits you will hear in a blues turnaround is a chromatically descending run that stems through part of the turnaround. This example has the chromatic descending note on the D string while the 9th fret on the G is played against each changing note.
This turnaround is very typical of something you might hear an acoustic blues player add into their 12-bar blues. We are taking a chord shape and moving it down through four chromatic notes.
This follows the same chromatic rule as the previous turnaround except the whole shape moves. The final shape is played as three open strings followed by a hammer on and pull off on the 1st fret of the G string. This is made up of 8th note triplets so you’re aiming for three notes per beat.
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Blues turnarounds can also take the form of a lead run. Here is a simple pentatonic run using the E minor pentatonic scale in the open position. There are 2 notes here which are outside of the scale (We will cover this in more depth in a future lesson).
The 1st fret on the A string (The b5 interval) and the 1st fret on the G string (The b4 interval) are both outside notes that can add a bluesy flavour to a scale.
This run starts with a hammer on followed by two open strings. The lick then runs through the scale backwards, except when you reach the A string, you reverse the flow and play the notes ascending. The final bar ends with a jump from the open Low E string to the 2nd fret of the D string, which is an octave of the E string.
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Here is another chromatic descending turnaround, the chromatic notes are on the G string starting from the 4th fret and alternate between the open E string. We have also integrated some chords into this turnaround in the form of an E7 and B7.
The first bar is made up entirely of 8th note triplets, but the fourth beat is made of chords. The E7 chord takes up two thirds of the triplet and the B7 takes up the final triplet beat.
This turnaround is using a concept called contrapuntal motion. Contrapuntal motion is two separate melodic lines moving in opposite directions at the same time. If you look at the low and high notes in this example, the notes on the wound strings are ascending and the notes on the unwound strings are descending.
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This style of turnaround is great to add a melodic complexity to the end of your blues progressions. To make this flow, visualise each two-note group as a separate chord shape so your hand will re-form for each note. Start off slow to get the finger patterns and the flow tight.
This turnaround is the same as Ex5 but due to the nature of the shape of this turnaround, it is an easy one to transpose into different keys. The only noticeable difference is the shape of the second chord. This is due to the low note in the second chord, in an open position this note would fall lower than the open string. When you play this in a higher register you can stick to the shapes here.
When playing through your 12-bar patterns in various keys, try to integrate some of these turnaround ideas over the last 2 bars or at the end of an entire song worth. All these turnarounds can be used to simply “turn around” the progression back to the I chord or end a piece.
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For using turnarounds to end a piece, slowing down over the course of the turnaround is one great way to finish or, if the turnaround resolves at the root chord, allow a pause before hitting the root chord one final time.
In the next lesson we will take a look at some slow blues progressions using these chords and explore various rhythms and techniques we can apply to make our 12 bar really capture the mood we want.
If you have enjoyed this lesson and you’re looking for a teacher in your local area check out our lessons page and speak to one of our highly recommended teachers in your local area. If you are based in the Leeds area check out our Lessons Leeds page.
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Leigh Fuge is a teacher and professional musician from Swansea in the UK. He has taught hundreds of students face to face and via the MGR Music platform. He has over 10 years’ experience working in the industry as a touring musician, session ist and teacher.In the last instalment, we looked at turning a few simple chords into a fully-fledged blues shuffle. Now that you’re getting your blues playing off to a great start, it’s time to talk about chord extensions.
When we talk about chord extensions, this refers to notes that you can add to chords to enhance their harmonic depth and give them a new flavour. We will be looking at 4 new types of chords in this lesson, Dominant 7th, Minor 7th, Dominant 9th and Minor 9th, which are great for giving your blues rhythm playing some new depth.
We will also be sticking with the I, IV and V chords we identified in the previous two lessons for this key.
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All the chord extensions in this lesson will be based on these chords. Let’s look at a few extensions that are great for blues playing.
7th chords are created by adding a variation of the 7th interval of the major scale onto a pre-existing major or minor chord.
Dominant 7th chords are made up of the I, III, V and bVII intervals of a major scale. For example, an A dominant 7th chord would be made up of:
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The dominant 7 chord shares the I, III, V trial of a Major chord, with an added flattened 7th note. The VII note in our scale is a G#. As a dominant 7 chord requires the VII to be flattened, this gives us a G note.
Minor 7th chords are made up of the I, bIII, V and bVII intervals of a major scale. An A Minor 7 chord would be made up of:
The minor 7 chord is a minor chord triad (I bIII V) with an added bVII note added. This chord is great for adding a sombre vibe to your chord progressions. Try throwing this one into your blues playing see where it takes you.
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9th chords are created by adding a variation of the 9th interval of the major scale onto a pre-existing 7th chord. While the major scale only has 7 intervals before we hit the root note again, if we count our octave note as the 8th interval of the scale, we can extend the scale through the second octave meaning our 9th interval is the same note as our second interval but one octave higher (In the case of A Major, it’s a B note).
Dominant 9th chords are made up of the I, III, V, bVII and IX intervals of a major scale. An A Dominant 9 chord would be made up of:
The dominant 9 chord is a dominant 7th chord with an added 9th not. The IX note in our scale is a B (Which is the same are our second interval).
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Minor 9th chords are made up of the I, bIII, V, bVII and IX intervals of a major scale. An A Minor 9 chord would be made up of:
The minor 9th chord shares the same shape as the dominant 7th with the major third note flattened to make the chord a minor.
Take the 12 bar blues rhythms you’ve been using for the last few weeks and swap up some of the chords with these new extended chords. You’ll notice a new depth to the rhythmic track. The Dominant 9th chord is a great way to add a funk edge to your blues. Or, if you really want to get moody, the Minor 7th chords will give your blues a real sombre overtone. Perfect for long, slow, weeping solos.
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The A, D and E chords used in this lesson were to keep things in context with the previous lessons, but these ideas
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