The Complete Idiot''s Guide to Music Theory

Part 5:
Embellishing
210
Turnarounds
Chapter 10 also presented a concept of the phrase-ending 
cadence.
Well, in the
fields of jazz and popular music, you find a similar concept called a 
turnaround.
A turnaround typically is a two-bar phrase, with two chords per measure, that
functions much the same as a traditional cadence, “turning around” the music
to settle back on the I chord at the start of the next phrase.
There is a wide variety of chord combinations you can use to create an ear-
pleasing turnaround, some of which go outside the underlying key to circle
back around to the tonic.
Here are just a few you might want to try:
Common Chord Turnarounds
Turnaround
Example (in C)
I-IV-iii-ii
I-vi-ii-V
iii-VI-ii-V
I-vi-
vi-V
I-
VII-iii-ii
IV-iii-ii-
ii
I-vi-
vi-
II
I-VI-
V-
III
Some jazz musicians refer
to turnarounds as 
turnbacks.
Note

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Chapter 16:
Chord Substitutions and Turnarounds
Turnaround
Example (in C)
I-
III-
VI-
II
I-
VII-
III-
II
Note that some of these outside-the-key chords take traditionally minor chords
and make them major, so pay close attention to the uppercase and lowercase
notation in the table. (For example, the III chord is an E Major chord in the
key of C; not the expected E minor.)
Also pay attention to flat signs before a chord; this indicates to play the chord a
half step lower than normal. For example, a 
vi chord in the key of C is a half
step lower than the standard A minor vi chord, which results in the A
minor
chord instead.
You can use these turnarounds in any of the songs you write or arrange. It’s an
easy way to add harmonic sophistication to your music, just by changing a few
chords at the end of a phrase!
The Least You Need to Know
◆
When you don’t want to play a boring old chord progression, you can use
one of several techniques to make the chord progression sound more har-
monically sophisticated.
◆
The easiest way to spice up a chord progression is to change triads to sev-
enth chords or extended chords (such as sixths, ninths, elevenths, or thir-
teenths), and add sevenths and other extensions to the basic chords.
◆
Another way to change the sound of a chord is to alter the bass note—to
either signal a different inversion, or to introduce a slightly different har-
monic structure.
◆
Substituting one chord for another also can make a chord progression
more interesting. The most common chord substitutions are diatonic, in
which you replace a chord with the diatonic chord either a third above or
below the original chord.
◆
You can also perform a chord substitution based on chord function. Any
chord fulfilling a tonic, subdominant, or dominant function can be re-
placed by any other chord fulfilling the same function.
◆
You can add interest to a chord progression by introducing a two-measure
turnaround at the end of the main phrase; these chords circle around and
lead back to the I chord at the start of the next phrase.
211

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