Blues You Can Use, Part 4

Variations on the V - IV - I turnaround

- BY SUE FOLEY

IN MY PREVIOUS “Blues You Can Use” columns, I focused on what I consider to be essential rhythm guitar and accompanying single-note patterns that exemplify Chicago-style blues guitar, as heard in the playing of blues greats like Jimmy Rogers, Eddie Taylor, Luther Tucker, and Robert Lockwood Jr. This month, we'll focus on the “turnarounds” that fall within the last four bars of a standard 12-bar blues progression.

To review, the first four bars in a 12-bar blues are either made up of the I (one) chord, which is the home key or “tonic,” or are built from one bar on the I chord, one bar on the IV (four) chord, and then two bars on the I chord. Bars 5 and 6 move to the IV, and bars 7 and 8 return to the I chord. The last four bars, 9-12, are one bar on the V (five) chord, one bar on the IV, a bar and a half on the I and, finally, by two beats on the V chord, to set up the next 12-bar chorus.