LESSON EIGHT

Turnaround Progressions

A Turnaround progression is a set pattern of chords that repeats itself. There are hundreds of well known songs based upon these Turnaround progressions. All these songs contain basically the same chords in the same order. A Turnaround may repeat over any number of bars. Usually 2, 4 and 8 bars. However the chord sequence remains the same. Some of the biggest hit records of all time are based upon a turnaround progression. Turnarounds always contain at least one minor chord. The Turnaround below uses a new chord E minor (Em).

The E Minor Chord

Em

Chord Symbol

To play the Em chord use the first, second and fifth fingers of your left hand as shown in the diagram.

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This progression is a Turnaround in the key of G. It will probably sound familiar to you. To make the left hand part easier to play, use the first, second and fourth fingers to play the C chord in this example.

  • When changing between G and Em chords, keep your first and fifth fingers in position.
  • When changing between Em and C chords, keep your first and second fingers in position.
  • When changing between C and D7 chords, keep your fourth finger in position.

Some songs using the Turnaround Progression

  • Stand by Me - John Lennon
  • I Will Always Love You - Whitney Houston
  • Return to Sender - Elvis Presley
  • All I Have to do is Dream - Everly Brothers
  • Tell Me Why - The Beatles
  • Let's Twist Again - Chubby Checker
  • Be My Baby - The Ronettes
  • Blue Moon - Various Artists

The A Minor Chord

Am

Chord Symbol

To play the Am chord use the first, third and fifth fingers of your left hand as shown in the diagram.

27 Minuet

The melody of this song was a number one hit record and was based on a minuet by famous classical composer Bach. It introduces the note B below middle C in Bars 7 and 15.

Broken Chords

Sometimes when you play a chord, instead of playing all three notes together, you play the lowest note of the chord shape (chord fingering), followed by the other two notes of the chord. The following example demonstrates broken chords in ^ time using the chords C, F and G7.

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29 Lavender’s Blue

Here is a new version of the song you learned in Exercise 16, this time using broken chords in the left hand part. Practice the left hand separately at first if necessary.

30 Morning Has Broken

Morning Has Broken uses all the chords you have learned so far and once again uses broken chords in the left hand part. It also introduces the note A below middle C in bar 17. If you have trouble co-ordinating both hands, practice each hand separately until you are confident playing each part and then combine them.

Broken Chords in * Time

Broken chords work equally well in ^ time and * time. Here are some examples of broken chords in the key of C in * time. Once you are comfortable playing them, try applying broken chord accompaniments to some of the other songs you have learned.

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32 O Susanna

This traditional folk song is played with a broken chord accompaniment. Take care with the chord change from C to G7 on the third beat of bars 7 and 15.