Listen to Robert Johnson’s “Kind Hearted Woman Blues” and pay attention to what happens at the end of each verse. Right before the pattern starts over, the guitar plays a short descending phrase — a quick chromatic walk down that pulls you back to the top. That phrase is a blues turnaround, and it may be the most important two bars in the entire 12-bar blues form.
A blues turnaround sits in the last two bars of a 12-bar progression. Instead of letting the music just stop or hang on the home chord, it creates forward motion. In other words, it turns the song around and sends it back to bar one. Furthermore, every blues guitarist — from Delta acoustic players to modern electric acts — uses some version of this device.
How a Blues Turnaround Works
The 12-bar blues runs through a set cycle of chords. By bar 11, the melody has usually wrapped up. Without a turnaround, those last two bars would sit on the I chord with nothing to do. As a result, the music would lose its drive.
A turnaround fixes that problem. It fills bars 11 and 12 with a short melodic or chordal phrase that moves from the I chord to the V chord. That V chord at the very end creates tension — a pull that demands to go back to the I chord at bar one. Consequently, the cycle starts over with built-in energy.
In the key of E, for instance, the most common turnaround walks a line down the first string. The notes drop chromatically — one fret at a time — while an open string drones underneath. Then the phrase lands on a B7 chord (the V) at the end of bar 12. That B7 pulls hard toward E, and the whole form loops.
The Classic Descending Turnaround
The single most recognizable blues turnaround is the descending chromatic lick in the key of E. Specifically, it pairs a high pedal tone on the open first string against notes that walk down from the flat seventh to the fifth on the second or third string. Robert Johnson used this exact pattern across many of his recordings. Indeed, by the time of his death in 1938, he had turned this simple device into a signature sound.
However, Johnson did not invent the descending turnaround from nothing. Earlier Delta blues players like Charley Patton and Son House used similar ideas. Johnson simply refined the pattern into a clear, repeatable form that every player after him could learn and adapt.
Different Types of Blues Turnarounds
While the descending chromatic lick gets the most attention, turnarounds come in many shapes. As a result, different styles of blues use different approaches.
In Chicago blues, the turnaround often gets louder and more aggressive. Muddy Waters played turnarounds with thick, overdriven slide tones that punched through a full band. Similarly, Elmore James used slide guitar turnarounds that became as famous as his vocal hooks.
T-Bone Walker brought jazz chords into the turnaround. Instead of a simple I-to-V movement, he used substitutions and passing chords that gave his turnarounds a smoother, more complex sound. Furthermore, Walker’s approach opened the door for jump blues bands to treat the turnaround as a moment for the whole horn section to punch in unison.
On the other hand, Hill Country blues players like R.L. Burnside often skipped formal turnarounds entirely. Their hypnotic, one-chord grooves looped without the harmonic signal that a traditional turnaround provides. Consequently, the music relied on rhythm and feel to create the sense of cycling rather than a chord change.
Turnarounds as Intros and Endings
Blues turnarounds do more than connect verses. In fact, many blues songs open with a turnaround played as an intro. This tells the band and the audience the key, the tempo, and the feel before the first verse even starts.
Likewise, turnarounds serve as endings. A blues band will often play the turnaround one last time but stop on the V chord instead of going back to bar one. That unresolved V chord hangs in the air for a beat. Then the whole band hits the I chord together for a final, punchy close. This stop-and-resolve ending is one of the most common ways to finish a blues song.
Why the Blues Turnaround Matters
The blues turnaround solves a fundamental problem in music — how to repeat a form without losing energy. Moreover, it does this with just two bars and a handful of notes.
For guitar players, learning turnarounds is one of the fastest ways to sound like you know the blues. A solid turnaround tells other musicians that you understand the form and can navigate it. Indeed, at jam sessions, the turnaround is often the first thing other players listen for.
For listeners, the turnaround is the moment that creates anticipation. It is the musical signal that says the story is about to start again. That pull — from tension back to home — sits at the heart of what makes the blues scale and the 12-bar form feel so satisfying. Without it, the blues would lose the circular momentum that has kept this music alive for over a century of American music history.
