4 Types of Blues Turnarounds You Should Know

[@PaulTheSkeptic]

I love how you give your students options and show different ways to do something. So many teachers teach how to do something. Then you know how to do that one thing. But if you can do that one thing in all these different ways, well now you're learning how to put things together for yourself. You're learning how to express yourself and not just play. You're learning not just how to play but how to jam. That's my philosophy on teaching. I've seen people who could shred like hell but couldn't jam.

[@rogercampana2065]

Great lesson. I particularly like the, clear and concise music theory background too. You’re a good teacher. Teaching the whole concept not just the “tabs.”

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

Thanks, Roger! Glad it was helpful. Have a great day!!

[@jakethesnek]

The first turnaround he played was literally the one i was looking for🤣 fantastic!

[@roberthouston6562]

You are a gifted teacher. Concise, with just enough theory to help, but not so much that heads go muddy. Keep it up brother.

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

I appreciate that! Many thanks, Robert!

[@tylerhurd9569]

very useful playing. Most blues guys know probably 2 or 3 of these turn arounds, I like how you showed the ones that included the bass notes to them.

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

Thanks for the comment, Tyler. I really enjoy playing the ones that have movement in the bass too. Cheers!

[@gwag8410]

Thanks, I see hours of new stuff to work on here, I love learning and I’m 58... great teaching style, pay no attention to the haters, they are jealous.

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

Hey again, Glen! Thanks man, I appreciate the support and really dig the fact that your learning this awesome style of music my friend!

[@gwag8410]

Blues Guitar Institute John, I love this music, and your teaching style is awesome. I’m really glad I found you man!

[@eriirumor9401]

Me too. I have listened to your lesson several times so that the fathomless rules you talking about become true with my Yamaha. Thanks a lot for your kind efforts !!

[@barbarasandoval2231]

Hi John, I have listened to this lesson several times and I really enjoyed you. I am still having trouble but I just keep practicing over&over. Thanks much for your teaching.

[@davidsisto7694]

It is a great lesson and promise if you stay at it, you will most certainly see it "all come together". I've been playing for 31 years and Stevie Ray's "Pride and Joy" for over 20 of it and once I learned the exact notes of the turn around, just played it repeatedly until it became something as easy and automatic as any tool you need "right off the shelf".

[@johnmacmillan627]

John, this is an excellent lesson. It cleared up a lot of confusion for me regarding the theory of the turnaround. Many thanks

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

Glad it was helpful!

[@sohailsaha7427]

How are you not the greatest blues teacher on KZbin?

[@michaelslawinski1821]

Lol

[@brigs1370]

I remember when this guy used to chase tornados with Hellen Hunt.

[@toolfanaticgodsoftheriff8159]

brigs1370 good one! I saw the resemblance as soon as I read your comment! Good laughs!

[@wackyduck3]

Rip

[@scenicoversights8572]

Game over man!! Game over!!

[@scenicoversights8572]

Tom Cruise's Meaningless character : "Master Sergeant Farell, you're an American?" Bill fucking Paxton's epic reply : "Y no, sir. I'm from Kentucky."

[@timothymccaskey4362]

brigs1370: How could Bill Paxton have recently come out with a guitar tutorial when he's been dead for almost two years? And it's Helen Hunt by the way.

[@telboy1966manu]

Who knew Bill Paxton was such a darn good guitarist!! Seriously though, great lesson, thank you

[@UnderTheGoldenGate]

Applied this to the piano,thx!. Been playing for years, but this is how you pick up new little ingredients...

[@davidmacleod9313]

I think you’re a great teacher as well as player! Thanks, man!

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

Thank you! Really happy to have you out there learning along David! Cheers!

[@MrWinstonABailey]

very elegant articulation of many abstract, but essential concepts. very nice work.

[@RobertMJohnson]

John you're a great instructor. Thank you, sir, for your great work and your sharing! Awesome.

[@chrismacmanus1609]

I like the last turnaround. Bert Jansch uses it in "Come Back baby". He never considered himself a blues player, but he plays better than most.

[@chrismacmanus1609]

Or, I should say a similar turnaround.

[@flamencoprof]

I have an old LP of Mr. Johnson, but it took me decades to realise how good he was. Some familiar sounds in this very clear and well-done tutorial. I seem to do better watching fingers and listening than interpreting tabs or (shudder) all those little golf clubs. :-) Guess I'll have another go at it now.

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

Thanks and I agree. I didn't realize how difficult his style is until I really listened. Very nuanced playing and that, to me, is part of the magic. Cheers!

[@donaldhatcher8179]

Thank you John. Well done and you made it easy to understand.

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

Thanks Donald - cool last name :)

[@williamj1813]

Thanks, John. That was a very helpful lesson Keep up the great work. Much appreciated!!

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

Thank you, William! Really appreciate the comment and glad to know it's helpful to you. Play On!

[@Lotus6666bleu]

Bravo,je suis francophone au Québec. Vous êtes un excellent pédagogue, calme, voix chaleureuse, diction parfaite. J'apprends beaucoup avec vous. Tout est simple sans être simplet.Merci pour votre travail 🙏👍🙋

[@CurtisRadley]

Watching this on my lunch break and now I can’t wait until my shift is over to play some haha. Thanks for the lesson

[@jmanzemail]

Having that Vision of being a Teacher/Guitar especially is a BIG ROLE to take on! Much bigger and more important than most people think! You are the FIRST person I could actually sit with and watch and learn because you make it OBVIOUS that YOU REALLY want us to learn this in a NICE and EASY, COMFORTABLE and most of all, ACCESSIBLE way! You are a GREAT TEACHER! I have NO reason to say that other than it's TRUE! I REALLY wish I could get some individualized learning from you! I play by ear and I'm damn damn good, not to brag, but most people see that and hear that when someone plays by ear and they are blown away BUT I DON'T EVEN KNOW ONE ACTUAL CHORD, YET I PLAY OVER 60 CHORDS PROBABLY! I MAY HAVE INVENTED THEM ALL, I don't even know! I did it out of NECCESSITY and DESIRE. Passion for LEARNING but having NO TEACHER that could help me really! Wow. You're GOOD! REALLY REALLY GOOD! This is your CALLING! Thanks for putting your life and your heart into this! It's REALLY VERY IMPORTANT! Don't Go AWAY!!!!

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

Thanks, Joseph! That's really kind of you and I dig your enthusiasm. Now you got me curious if you did invent any chords 😎

[@hearpalhere]

Excellent lesson, I really enjoyed it. Thank you!

[@vidsforsquids]

That’s a sweet axe - great tone and intonation 👍🏼

[@cryptonator1988]

These are some amazing turn arounds.. i need to learn these..

[@the9barbluesband140]

Thank you. Quick and easy. Cheers, maha.

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

You're welcome!

[@maryfredriksz]

Thx for your very good lessons. I am working on it. Oegstgeest Holland

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

Thanks, Mary!

[@adirondacktrekking1972]

Thanks ,these turnarounds are exactly what I’ve been needing to learn ,Boom!

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

Awesome!

[@xdreadx_5025]

Great teacher I've been watching for a couple weeks now and learned a lot

[@kieranroberts9119]

This is the best video I've found to explain turnarounds great mate Thankyou 👍👍

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

Awesome, thank you! Glad it helped Cheers!

[@FeketeLamour]

Exactly what I needed, thanks!

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

Awesome!

[@tomekberg9252]

already listened 10 times john, great lesson!

[@WWLaidback]

0:34 turnaround 1 3:20 turnaround 2 5:33 turnaround 2a 7:06 turnaround 3 8:04 turnaround 4

[@corytrees3797]

I dig the last one, nice. I just learned the sweetest turn around in e. Digging your lessons

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@halcarter1426]

love that Larrivee

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

Thank you! It's been my #1 from the moment we met :)

[@christianvonmaffei5393]

Thanks, very helpful lesson for me 😊👍🏽

[@pierreatecohealth420]

great lesson, well explained

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

Glad you liked it!

[@whiterabbit4479]

You are a great teacher.

[@kellywendlandt3940]

That guitar sounds killer. And great lesson. Thanks.

[@dannyhood8857]

Thank you. The descending G7, C, E flat7, D7, G cool!

[@manuelcastillo5999]

Perfect quick lesson, man. Not too slow. Thanks.

[@nicksonthevet]

Hey bro, thanks for the lesson, Greetings from Tanzania East Africa

[@viennapalace]

I can't help but think, if poor old Robert Johnson had access to your KZbin videos, he wouldn't have had to sell his soul... Thanks for another great lesson.

[@tims1348]

You can hear most of these in Eric Clapton's unplugged album. I recognized a lot of these turnarounds!

[@MadMarvelTPresents]

I thought the exact same thing. I learned all the songs on unplugged and I think he literally just took those turnarounds and made a video

[@PhillipNeal]

My thoughts exactly

[@snakehips81]

He heard them from Robert Johnson recordings, but they didn't belong to RJ either !

[@AdaptivePhenix]

@@MadMarvelTPresents Nope. For all the hype, Clapton plays standard stuff.

[@paulcasilio1119]

Great lesson. Thank you. I know turnarounds, but getting the classes or types is extremely helpful.

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

Glad it was helpful! Cheers, Paul!

[@anthonysacco4596]

yyepper, like the way you communicate ! "That's rare in this industry!"

[@colemileafplaysfighters6080]

Love Robert Lockwood Jr. Black Spider Blues Turnaround. It's haunting.

[@jesseross6029]

I'd like to share something I've been playing around with. It's sort of a simplified version of the descending turnaround you illustrated. 4th string, 5th fret twice, 4th fret twice, 3rd fret twice, 2nd fret once, open, 1st fret once, third fret once. So... Main section: 2 2 4 4 2 2 4 4 2 2 4 4 Turnaround: 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 0 1 3 All up and down the 4th string. Simple, fun and awesome sounding!

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

Thanks for sharing, Jesse! Try plucking your open 1st string right along with these notes, sounds great.

[@jesseross6029]

@@BluesGuitarInstitute Another idea I had was to play the open 5th string with this pattern. That also creates a rich, full blues sound.

[@davidcollinsfool]

Best lessons on KZbin bro!!

[@DavidMFChapman]

Hubert Sumlin had a signature turnaround lick he used a lot. Listen for it in his solo in Howling Wolf’s 300 Pounds of Heavenly Joy. Love it!

[@ronojames4548]

Great practical lesson also contrary motion is what going up in bass and down in treble and vice versa is called.

[@user-lb8do4ew6k]

Or counterpoint, you know like what musicians who have gone to places like Berklee & Juliard call it... 😒

[@OneDrunkWizard]

Very cool video. Terminology on point and very helpful.

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

Glad it was helpful, thanks Kyle!

[@jamesmcloughlin9404]

Sublime stuff John 🙅‍♂️

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

Thanks, James! Hope all's well with you my friend. Cheers!

[@troymattingly3071]

Sounds absolutely worthwhile!

[@raymondwilliams4346]

Cool video. Thanks.

[@virgilrw]

Thank You! 👏👏👏👏👏

[@maureenbachmann1858]

Descending! Thanks!!

[@patsupromajakr8498]

Great lesson!

[@rob8482]

That was freaking awesome! WOW, thank you!

[@royspeakman1157]

Brilliant !

[@marciaewell2661]

nice! It seems so many just learn 1 or 2 simple "chicago" or RJ type turnaround that get to be very repetitive, when there is infinite variety to really help an artist forge their signature sound, like Skip James or Rev Gary Davis with the ascending/descending flavors of turnaround he used. You can just about date blues with the choice of turnaround used in a song and would be an interesting scholarly endeavour. Like to see your part II as well?

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

That would be an interesting study. I love the RJ turn but I really love to tweak it a bunch. But you're right some of those Gary Davis or even older Blind Blake turns just knock my socks off. Great comment! Play On!

[@Lotus6666bleu]

Merci! Ce n'est pas un gros montant, mais je tenais à vous signifier que vos enseignements compte beaucoup pour moi. J'invite tous les utilisateurs de cette chaîne à donner au moins un petit montant. Merci et bravo 🙏👍🙋

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

Wow thank you so much, I really appreciate that!!

[@markkidd9477]

Simply brilliant.

[@jonmaclennan]

Nice lesson! Dig the acoustic blues style!

[@retrofutur1st]

great youtube rec!

[@adancarreras]

0:33; 2:32; 5:34; 6:03; 8:05; 9:00

[@probtub]

Larrivee yeah!

[@BAWORBLUES]

Excelent informative and helful. Tx super teacher.🎸

[@josephgenna7983]

Great thanks

[@PedroDiazLand]

Thankyou for this video. Very nice. But as a recommendation Will be good to ADD the Tabs here in the video!!!

[@musicandactionfigures]

Your guitar sounds so clear and so crisp! I can even smell the scent of the wood! Thanks a bunch for the lesson. 🍺⭐💯

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

Thanks and glad you like it! Cheers!

[@TimHolman]

Great turnarounds! Nice instruction. 🎸🔥

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

Glad you liked it! Thanks, Tim!

[@shanemarcotte2062]

What a beautiful guitar! And message!

[@Azfun6]

Very cool turn arounds, they make blues a lot of fun.

[@roberthancock2563]

Thanks so much,John! Great lesson!!

[@danc.2457]

Pretty cool , good instruct , valuable basic for beginning intermediate ... tx

[@TheHarmonicaBarge]

Great teaching

[@RobertWhitfield]

Excellent lesson and info.

[@DANTEANDOLINI]

Love the chain lightning blues reverse turnaround

[@CalvinEdmonson]

Good stuff. I will play these until I can do it in my sleep. Take a look at SRV's Rude Mood turn around. It's super cool.

[@ThomasDeLello]

Your #2 "Pedal" turn around can be played at either the 1st + 4th string or the 2nd. + 5th., either way, the fingering juxtaposition remains that same. I use it all the time. I call it the Robert Johnson Turn Around and it is so easy and kool...! Then, as with any turn around, you can apply three different types of triplets, quarter notes or eighth notes and mix them up any way you want to and have dozens of slightly different turn arounds. Multiply that times the four examples shown here and you've got a lifetime supply, bluesman...

[@alfonshomac]

Hey man, good video. I like the turnarounds based on I-vi-ii-V-I or the tricky ones that just hang on the tritone sub of the V., Of course, you can plug the tritone sub for the V in a vi-ii-V-I. Also the IV-iv-I-V or the IV-#Vdim-I-V Now there are ridiculous amounts of variation if you add passing chords, like say the V (or tri-sub V) or the VIIdim of every chord you land on your way to I. You can torture a 4 chord turn around into an 8 chord monster or a 20 chord chord-solo. If you're into that sort of thing.

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

Definitely! I feel a part 2 to this video coming in the future. I love those chordy turns.

[@littlebuddy4321]

@@BluesGuitarInstitute yes please!

[@bh8365]

Sounds great. Thanks. Examples went quickly for slow learners (like me). I'll try working on this.

[@paulhayes2758]

Brilliant video, thank you so so much! ⭐️

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

Thank you, Paul!

[@4kirin4]

Awesome

[@garrettbaker2320]

Man, what a great sounding guitar!

[@shiratikkas6780]

Thank you, greate video :) Do you plan on doing a tuto on a R. Johnson blues (the best would be love in vain or red hot :) )

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

Both great tunes. I teach a love in vain style blues in the membership. They're Red Hot is one of my favorites. Got me into ragtime blues. Maybe you'd like this: www.bluesguitarinstitute.com/decoding-a-classic-piedmont-blues-progression/

[@shiratikkas6780]

@@BluesGuitarInstitute that's realy cool, thanks a lot :)

[@danielcalvo3626]

Excellent explanation. Thank you.

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

Thank you, Daniel! Appreciate you watching and commenting. Play On!

[@duaneulman9915]

Thank you

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

You're welcome, Cheers!

[@INDYOSKARS]

Real nice ole son, real nice !

[@dPeteD]

Thanks!

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

Thank you!!

[@KowboySantos]

that guitar sounds really good \m/ great lesson too!

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

Thanks Kowboy Santos! Love my Larrivee and really happy you enjoyed the lesson! Cheers!

[@KowboySantos]

@@BluesGuitarInstitute absolutely! \m/

[@kenstrohan5089]

Very cool lesson:)!

[@davidmacleod9313]

Love all these turn-a-rounds. The one that has that funny word to describe it,..you know with the ascending and descending lines, I seem to want to play a C9 down to a B9 but finger picked but only with the inner 4 strings. I think it sounds real nice. (Would that be a 5 1/2 chord to the 5 chord? Lol Thanks again! You’ve given me some much needed spark!

[@JoeBanjo88]

Good stuff! Thank you

[@precisionbrown6829]

Nice guys can you be a little more respectful to somebody that’s giving a free lesson that, by the way, I had recently figured out. By the way guy’s, watching TV is not going help you out if you’re trying to learn

[@davidvandermolen1687]

Nice Larrivee!

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

Thanks, David!

[@champnessjack1154]

Great tutorial, thanks! Love the low key but informative style.

[@davidpatrick1813]

I just come across this gent. Thanks.. I'll try this out with some other things I've been enjoying. I did subscribe and we'll see.. good approach.

[@BluesGuitarInstitute]

Thanks, David!