Introduction
A turnaround is a short chord progression you play at the end of a song to take you back to the beginning for a repeat. Its entire purpose is to get you to the V7 chord at the end of the form, ready to play a I chord when you repeat.
- Turnarounds typically lasts 1-2 bars
- Turnarounds are sometimes notated in lead sheets (often in brackets) and sometimes not – either way you should use one when repeating the form
- Do not play a turnaround if you are ending the song – just finish on the I chord
Common Turnarounds
Below are a few commonly used turnarounds that you will find in most Jazz songs.
The Tadd Dameron Turnaround
These are very typical, simple turnarounds that are entirely diatonic (they use chords derived from one or two keys). But Jazz musicians often take these simple turnarounds and make them more interesting and complex by adding chromaticisms (like secondary dominants and chord substitutions). On particularly interesting turnaround was created by the pianist Tadd Dameron and is called (unsurprisingly) the Tadd Dameron Turnaround. It:
- Takes a simple 1-6-2-5 chord progression
- Turns the minor chords into secondary dominants (a very common technique)
- Tritone substitutes all the dominant chords (a very common technique)
- Then converts all the dominant chords into Maj7 chords (a very weird thing to do that has no real theoretical justification)
Have a Listen to
The following songs often use a Tadd Dameron Turnaround:
- Lady Bird by Tadd Dameron
- Half-Nelson by Miles Davis
- Israel by John Carisi
- Where do you start? by Johnny Mandel (end of section A, slightly modified/varied)
