February 11, 2023 by Klaus Crow
If you’re a blues guitarist, you know that a good turnaround can give real flavor to your song, lift up the entire piece and make it stand out, so that’s what we’re going to do today!
A turnaround is a short musical phrase that leads back to the beginning of a song or progression and typically starts on the last two bars (or measures) of a 12-bar blues shuffle or 12-bar blues progression.
So if you’re playing a blues tune and you want to incorporate a turnaround, start by counting out the 12 bars of the progression, and then begin the turnaround on the 11th and 12th bars.
While turnarounds are often used to signal the end of a chorus or verse, and set up the next one, today’s heavenly blues turnarounds are only used at the end of a blues progression to finish the song with some raw and soulful blues elegance.
Add these two heavenly blues turnarounds to your repertoire and you’re good to go.
Remember, the key to mastering these turnarounds is practice, so be sure to spend plenty of time working on them. Grab your guitar, watch the video lesson and get started!
Happy playing!
TABLATURE
If you want more turnarounds you can also check out the Robert Johnson Style Turnarounds or 6 Cool Guitar Blues Turnarounds.
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Stuart McCloud says
Thank you for taking the time to create such a helpful blog.
Klaus Crow says
Hi Stuart,
It’s all my pleasure.
Thanks for sticking around. I appreciate it ;)
Best,
Klaus Crow