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11.4 · Sevenths & Jazz

Turnarounds & blues

Put the sevenths to work. Jazz runs on loops just like pop does. The difference is the wardrobe (four-note chords) and one rulebreaker: the blues, where every chord gets the dominant flavor.

The turnaround

I–vi–ii–V in sevenths: jazz's idle engine. It ends on V7, so it hands itself back to the top. Tunes loop it between choruses.

Cmaj7
Am7
Dm7
G7

Cmaj7 → Am7 → Dm7 → G7. Notice the last two chords are a ii–V aimed straight back at bar one.

Its ancestor is the 50s doo-wop loop, in triads:

Jazz up a familiar loop

Any progression takes the upgrade. The pop loop, before and after the wardrobe change:

The 12-bar blues

Twelve bars, three chords, I7, IV7, V7, and every single one a dominant. By the diatonic rulebook only V should get that flavor; the blues doesn't care, and that friction is the sound.

C7
C7
C7
C7
F7
F7
C7
C7
G7
F7
C7
G7

Four bars home, two bars away, back home, then the V7–IV7 turnaround row. The skeleton under thousands of songs, jazz and rock alike.

Quiz

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Why does the turnaround loop so naturally?

Score 100% on every quiz and game to complete this lesson.Same chord, new shape →