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Intermediate · step 5 · Not started

Blues turnarounds and intros

The last two bars of a blues have a special job: they announce the return to the top. Guitarists drop a short ready-made phrase there, the turnaround. The same kind of phrase also works as an intro. Goal: play two turnarounds at 80, and hear the end of the progression without counting.

Time
15 minutes a day for a week
Before you start
Targeting chord tones; The shuffle rhythm
You’ll be able to
Play turnarounds and intros

Bars 11 and 12

In the blues in A, bars 11 and 12 play A7 then E7. The E7 in bar 12 creates an expectation that sends the progression back to the top: that’s the turnaround. Guitarists play a phrase there that walks down or up toward that E7.

The three turnarounds in this lesson fit in those two bars and end on E7, with a shuffle.

1. The chromatic one

The high E string at the 5th fret (A) stays put while the G string walks down fret by fret: 8, 7, 6, 5. Then the open A string and E7. The most famous of them all.

e|-5-5-5-5---0-|
B|-----------0-|
G|-8-7-6-5---1-|
D|-----------0-|
A|---------0-2-|
E|-----------0-|

Play the two notes together, with the pick on the G string and your middle finger on the high E, or with the pick alone, skipping the B string (mute it with the finger on the G string).

2. The rising bass

On the low strings: A, C#, D, D#, and E7. The bass climbs toward E.

e|---------0-|
B|---------0-|
G|---------1-|
D|-----0-1-0-|
A|-0-4-----2-|
E|---------0-|

3. The descent

A pentatonic descent from the high A down to the A on the D string, passing through C# (the third of A7), then E7.

e|-5---------------|
B|---8-5-----------|
G|-------7-6-5---1-|
D|-------------7-0-|
A|---------------2-|
E|---------------0-|

Intros

Many blues songs start with the last two bars of the progression: an intro is often a turnaround played before the top. Here are two intros that end on E7, or on its root, E; the progression starts right after, on A7.

e|-------5-----------|
B|-----5---5---------|
G|-7b9-------7-5-----|
D|---------------7---|
A|-----------------7-|
E|-------------------|
e|---------0-|
B|-8-7-6-5-0-|
G|-7-6-5-4-1-|
D|---------0-|
A|---------2-|
E|---------0-|

The second one slides two notes together, on the G and B strings, fret by fret toward the low end.

Ear training: hearing the end

Start the progression and don’t count. Just listen to the chords. After a few times around, you’ll hear the E7 of bar 9 coming, then the A7 and E7 at the end: the progression “closes”. Raise your hand when bar 11 begins. Once you get it right three times in a row, play your turnaround at that moment.

The shuffle (swung eighths)A7 · A7 · A7 · A7 · D7 · D7 · A7 · A7 · E7 · D7 · A7 · E7

Learn the shuffle step by step →

You’ve got it when…