Turnarounds & transitions — the two bars that sell the form
Bars 11 and 12 are where a blues either snaps shut like a well-made box or sags. The turnaround is a tiny machine: it resolves the chorus that just ended and winds the spring for the next one. Players get judged on it. Here is the anatomy, the classic moves, and the related machinery — intros, stop-time and endings.
What a turnaround does
Harmonically it travels I → V in two bars, usually with chromatic motion inside. Melodically, nearly every classic turnaround is a descending line from the ♭7 (or octave) walking down to land on the 3rd of the I, then jumping to the V at the last moment. Learn one move in three keys rather than three moves in one key.
The classic moves
1. The descending sixths (the "Robert Johnson")
The oldest move in the book: parallel intervals sliding down chromatically over a steady root. In A, a top voice walks G–F♯–F–E while a lower voice walks E–E♭–D–C♯ beneath it; then E7 arrives. You have heard this exact gesture open and close ten thousand records — Johnson used it constantly (Sweet Home Chicago, Kind Hearted Woman Blues), and it survives intact in Clapton and Stevie Ray.
2. The walk-down to the 3rd
The single-note version: from the octave root, walk 1–♭7–6–♭6 in steady triplets, land on the 3rd of the I, then hit the V7. Fits under one hand position, works at any tempo.
3. The walk-up
Reverse the energy: climb 1–2–♭3–3 into the IV, or 3–4–♯4–5 into the V. Walking up feels like a question mark — bands pair it with a drum build into the next chorus.
4. The chord slide (the "T-Bone")
Grab a 9th-chord shape and approach the V from a half-step above: F9 sliding down to E9. One slide, instant uptown. This is the turnaround as comping rather than lick — essential for rhythm players.
Intros: "from the five!"
The standard blues intro is simply the last four bars of the form — V–IV–I–turnaround — played before the first chorus; that's what "from the five" means at a jam. The other classic is the turnaround intro: bars 11–12 alone, played twice as a vamp. Both work because the audience hears the answer before the question, so the first full chorus feels inevitable.
Stop-time
The band stabs beat one and goes silent; the singer or soloist fills the gap; repeat. Run it on the I for a phrase or two, then drop the groove back in — the oldest trick for making a room lean forward. Muddy Waters' Hoochie Coochie Man is the masterclass: the riff is the stop-time. Write one stop-time section into any blues you arrange; it's free drama.
Endings
- The classic: play your turnaround line, but close on ♭II9 → I9 (in A: B♭9 sliding down to A9). The half-step slide is the universal "we're done" signal.
- The hold: stop on the I at bar 11, let the singer take a free phrase, then one stinger chord.
- The tag: repeat the last two bars three times, each softer or slower, then the ♭II9–I9 slide.