Last Updated on May 15, 2019 by Klaus Crow

Photo by Steve Garry

A good blues turnaround is the icing on the cake of every blues progression.

I always beg, borrow, steal and create my own nice sweet sounding turnarounds to add that extra magic when I’m playing a blues song. It’s one of the things that makes the blues sound so cool.

Blues turnarounds are played at the end of a section of a blues progression which then leads to the next section or the end of the song.

To get a good impression of how turnarounds are played listen to blues guitar players like B.B King, Albert King, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Clapton and study theirs.

Tip: Every time you play the blues try to play a different turnaround, so you don’t end up playing the same turnaround ten years from now. It’s easy to fall into that trap. Expand your vocabulary!

Enjoy these 6 turnarounds to spice up your blues:

Have a great one!

BLUES TURNAROUND #1 e:-------0--------0--------0-----------------------------| B:-----------------------------0-----3--2----------------| G:----4--------3--------2------1-----3--2----------------| D:--6--------5--------4--------2-----2--1----------------| A:---------------------------------x-3--2----------------| E:-------------------------------------------------------| BLUES TURNAROUND #2 e:---------4------4------4---4-------9--10--11-----------| B:-------5------5------5-----5-------8---9--10-----------| G:----/7------6------5-------4-------9--10--11-----------| D:-------------------------------------------------------| A:-------------------------------------------------------| E:-0-----------------------------------------------------| BLUES TURNAROUND #3 e:------0-----0-----0------------------------------------| B:----3-----2-----1-------------------3------------------| G:--4-----3-----2-----0h1-------------2------------------| D:-------------------------2----------1------------------| A:----------------------------0-1-2---2------------------| E:-------------------------------------------------------| BLUES TURNAROUND #4 e:-------------------------------------------------------| B:----9-------8-------7------5-------6---7---------------| G:------7-------6-------5----7-------7---8---------------| D:-9-------8-------7---------6---x---6---7---------------| A:---------------------------7---x---x---x---------------| E:-----------------------------------6---7---------------| BLUES TURNAROUND #5 e:--3b-0---0---------------------------------------------| B:-------3----3p0-----------------------------------2----| G:-----------------3p2p0--2p0-----0h1---------------2----| D:-----------------------------2--------2p0---------1----| A:-------------------------------------------0h1h2--2----| E:-------------------------------------------------------| BLUES TURNAROUND #6 e:-------------------------------------------------------| B:------0----0----0----0----0----5--6--7-----------------| G:-------------------------------6--7--8-----------------| D:-------------------------------5--6--7-----------------| A:-------------------------------------------------------| E:---0----4----5----6----7-------------------------------|