The Turnaround
In most Blues songs, each verse ends with what is called a turnaround. A turnaround is a way of setting the music up for a repeat, so that the listener is ready for the next verse or solo. Turnarounds commonly occur on the last two bars of the Blues progression.
The chords found in the turnaround are usually 1 and 5. In the key of G the chords used in these two bars would be G or G7 and D or D7. Although you can use any of the notes of the Blues scale or a combination of scales to play over all the chords of a Blues progression, it is common to change some of the notes along with the chord changes, e.g. ending the phrase on the root note of the accompanying chord as shown in the following example, or using mostly notes contained in the chord. This is particularly important on the turnaround of a verse or solo. The first bar here is played over a G7 chord, so the harmonica plays the notes B and G which are both part of a G7 chord. In the second bar, the accompaniment plays a D7 chord and the harmonica plays an F from the G Blues scale and ends on a D note which is the root note of the D7 chord. Listen to how well these notes fit with the accompaniment.
Here are some typical examples of the type of licks you might find on a Blues turnaround. Try making up some of your own, as well as listening to Blues albums for ideas to use on turnarounds.
