Killer Turnarounds in Jazz

7 KIller Turnarounds for Your Next Jazz Solo

By

Eric

Composition, Playing Techniques, Premium

Joe Henderson

If you’ve spent any time practicing jazz improvisation, chances are you’ve heard of the turnaround. Those little two bar chord progressions that pop up at the ends of tunes or in the middle of your solo, leading you back to the top of the form. But what you might not realize is that these turnarounds can become one of the most important tools in your musical arsenal.

You just need to practice them in the right way…

“[Turnarounds] were a series of chord changes that progressed eloquently back to the main theme of a song. They were important because they let you extend a song without making it sound like you were repeating it. From a listeners’ standpoint, they created anticipation and made you want to hear the main part again.” ~Yusef Lateef

There are places in any chord progression that have the potential to create harmonic motion and melodic interest to your lines. And this is a technique that many great players have spent time developing in the practice room.

The beautiful thing about improvisation is that you don’t have to feel chained to the written chord progression. You don’t have to ...

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