Turnarounds
The last two bars of nearly every jazz chorus are doing the same job: turning the harmony back toward home.
What a turnaround does
A turnaround is a short chord pattern — usually just a bar or two — that leads a section or full chorus back to its starting point. You'll find one at the end of nearly every 8- or 32-bar jazz form, doing the harmonic work of saying "we're about to repeat, here's the runway."
I–vi–ii–V: the classic shape
In C major: Cmaj7 – Am7 – Dm7 – G7. Each chord shares tones with its neighbor, so the motion feels smooth even as it touches four different chords in the space of a bar or two, landing on a V7 that pulls right back to the top of the form.
I–VI7–ii–V: adding a secondary dominant
Swap the diatonic vi (Am7) for its dominant version — A7 — and you get Cmaj7 – A7 – Dm7 – G7. Turning vi into a secondary dominant (VI7) gives it its own leading tone into the ii chord, adding a stronger push through the progression. This is one of the most common turnarounds in the entire jazz standard repertoire, including the A-sections of countless "rhythm changes" tunes.
Tritone substitution variants
Any dominant chord in a turnaround can be swapped for the dominant 7th chord a tritone away, since the two chords share the same tritone between their 3rd and 7th. Replace G7 with D♭7, or A7 with E♭7, and you get chromatically descending bass lines that are a hallmark of more harmonically adventurous jazz arranging — the same functional turnaround, dressed in smoother, stepwise root motion.
Common questions
What is a turnaround in jazz?
A short chord pattern, usually the last two bars of a section or chorus, that leads harmonic motion back to the top of the form so the tune can repeat or restart smoothly.
What is the I-vi-ii-V turnaround?
In C major: Cmaj7 - Am7 - Dm7 - G7. Four chords, one per beat or bar, cycling by descending thirds and fifths back to a V that resolves into the top of the form.
What does the VI7 do in I-VI7-ii-V?
Turning the vi chord into a dominant 7 (VI7, a secondary dominant) adds a stronger pull into the ii chord that follows it, giving the turnaround more forward motion than the plain I-vi-ii-V.
What is a tritone substitution turnaround?
Any chord in a turnaround can be replaced by the dominant 7 chord a tritone away, since the two share the same tritone between their 3rd and 7th — a common variant swaps the VI7 or V7 for its tritone substitute to create smooth chromatic bass motion.
Loop turnarounds in every key
Melody Monkey lets you play any progression on a live instrument and hear it resolve.
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