ii-V7-I turnaround in C  Play (help·info)

In jazz, a turnaround is a passage at the end of a section which leads to the next section. This next section is most often the repetition of the previous section or the entire piece or song.^[1]

The turnaround may lead back to this section either harmonically, as a chord progression, or melodically.

Typical turnarounds

I-vi7-ii-V7 turnaround in C^[2]  Play (help·info).

Typical turnarounds in jazz include:

• vi - ii - V - I^[2]
• V/ii - V/V - V - I^[3]
• ♭iii^o - ii⁷ - V⁷ - I^[4]
• vi - ♭VI^7♯11 - V - I
• V-IV-I

When used in a twelve bar blues pattern, the twelfth bar may end on the dominant ^[1] rather than the more conventional tonic.

Harmonic alternatives

Sometimes, especially in blues music, musicians will take chords which are normally minor chords and make them major. The most popular example is the I - VI - ii - V - (I) progression; normally, the vi chord would be a minor chord (min, -7, -6, -(♭6), etc.) but here the major third allows for a more interesting modulation. Take the example in C major: C - A - d min - G (dom) . The third of the VI chord (in this case, C♯) allows for chromatic movement from C (the root of I) to C♯ (the third of VI) to D (the root of ii).

Similar chromaticism and harmonic interest can be achieved by the use of a secondary dominant, which are also useful for turnarounds. The simplest example is V⁷/V - V⁷ - I, instead of ii - V - I. Another popular turnaround which may be considered as a secondary dominant analysis is ii - ♭V/V (or ♭II) - I, which is a variation on the standard ii - V - I turnaround. In jazz parlance, use of the bII instead of the V is known as Tritone Substitution. Using bV/V instead of V allows for a smooth chromatic descent. Again, let's examine C major; the original turnaround would be d min - G (dom) - C, while the modified would be d min - D♭ - C . The obvious chromatic movement is thorough; it is apparent in the roots (D - D♭ - C), thirds (F - F - E; F is often used as a pedal tone), and fifths (A - A♭ - G).

While in that particular example the ♭V/V can be considered a Neapolitan chord, the more typical functional analysis in the context of the jazz idiom is that it is not a "secondary dominant" (♭V⁷/V) at all, but ♭II⁷, a substitute dominant^[5] (tritone substitution). Harmonically, ♭II⁷ functions exactly as V⁷/I does, because the two chords enharmonically contain the same tritone, which is the critical harmonic element in the resolution from dominant to tonic. The half-step-wise downward motion of the roots of those chords, as seen in ii - ♭II⁷ - I, forms the familiar "line cliché", arriving satisfyingly at the tonic.

NB: "Secondary dominant" = the functional dominant of the key's dominant or another non-tonic chord, while "substitute dominant" = an alternative functional dominant of the key's tonic. The extending of dominants to secondaries (or beyond) is a practice which remains firmly inside the circle of fifths, while the substitution of dominants replaces that cycle with one of minor-second intervals.

I-vi-ii-V may be transformed through various chord substitutions. For example, the vi and ii chords may be substituted with dominant chords, giving I-VI⁷-II⁷-V or C-A⁷-D⁷-G,^[6] the Ragtime progression. The tritone substitution may be applied to the vi and V chords, giving C-E♭⁷-D⁷-D♭⁷, or to every chord but the I, giving C-E♭⁷-A♭^M7-D♭⁷.^[7]

Creative potential

The number of possibilities when one creates turnarounds is endless; an easy way to "stretch a buck" when implementing turnarounds is to use chord substitution. For example, one can switch out chords from the same type or area; replacing tonics with other tonic area chords (iii for I is especially popular, and vi for I is often used as a false cadence), subdominants with other subdominant-area chords (ii for IV), and all varieties of functional dominants for dominants (vii^o for V). Another simple and common way to bring harmonic and melodic contrast to a turnaround is with extended and/or altered chord degrees, for example, ii⁹ - V^7♭5♭13 - I^M7,⁹

With a certain amount of taste and pragmatism, secondary and substitute dominants and subdominants can be chained together virtually endlessly to create long line clichés, or to tritone-shift chord roots essentially at will for variety. One can push the extension as far around the cycle of fifths as one wants, to a point where it ceases to have musical appeal or yields a progression far too long for the number of beats or bars in the turnaround. A classic "inside" example of extended secondary dominants and subdominants is iii - VI⁷ - ii - V⁷ - I. Examples which may replace that include iii - ♭III⁷ - ii - ♭II⁷ - I, which replaces the dominants with their tritone substitutes, and ♭vii - VI⁷ - ♭vi - V⁷ - I, which replaces the subdominants with their tritone substitutes and moves the half-step-wise descending line cliche away from the tonic without sacrificing the ultimate resolution to tonic. At the "outside" fringe, the harmonic logic of tritone substitution makes radical root choices possible in a way which still honors the original harmony of a particular convention or a given composition. For example, Ornette Coleman sometimes played the blues or standards on entirely "outside" scales based on all of the tritone substitutes and/or other reharmonizations, only to ironically return to the "inside" of the song's actual key for the turnaround. ^[8]

Beyond the described various functional substitutions, secondary-and-further chord choices, and chord colorations via extension, turnarounds can take the form of complete reharmonization of a section of a song.

References

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Randel, Don Michael (2002). The Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music and Musicians. ISBN 0-674-00978-9. p.693
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Boyd, Bill (1997). Jazz Chord Progressions, p.43. ISBN 0-7935-7038-7.
3. ↑ Boyd (1997), p.86.
4. ↑ Boyd (1997), p.90.
5. ↑ . Harmony 4 course book. Berklee College of Music.
6. ↑ Boyd (1997), p.44.
7. ↑ Boyd (1997), p.46-47.
8. ↑ Paul Bley Quartet, October 31, 1958, bootleg recording of a "Rhythm" tune and an un-named blues in E♭.