In Frank Vignola’s 30 Jazz Turnarounds, he takes you through 30 different ways to play a turnaround using common jazz guitar progressions, such as a 1-6-2-5. These are accessible jazz turnarounds that can be transposed anywhere on the neck to fit the progressions you’re playing.

In each guitar lesson, Frank will perform the turnaround straight, playing it four times through. For the rest of the jam track, he’ll use different rhythmic approaches as he would when playing a gig, in real playing situations.

Here, we have four free guitar lessons taken from the course that show off different styles of playing a turnaround in a jazz progression. Each guitar lesson is tabbed and notated for your practice purposes, including a jam track to play along with as well. So, let’s get to it and learn some turnarounds!

Jazz Turnaround #5: Overview

The chords for Turnaround #5 are Em7 – A13(b9) – Dm7 – G13(b9), using the iii chord and the 13(b9) chord inversion.

Jazz Turnaround #5: Performance

Download the tab, notation, and jam track for this jazz turnaround on TrueFire.

Jazz Turnaround #5: Breakdown


Jazz Turnaround #8: Overview

The chords for Turnaround #8 are Fmaj9 – Dm7 – Gm9 – C9. This is a melodic turnaround using the major 9 and minor 9th chord.

Jazz Turnaround #8: Performance

Download the tab, notation, and jam track for this jazz turnaround on TrueFire.

Jazz Turnaround #8: Breakdown


Jazz Turnaround #15: Overview

The chords for Turnaround #15 are Bbmaj7 – Dbmaj7 – Gbmaj9 – Bmaj7. This is a classic bebop turnaround.

Jazz Turnaround #15: Performance

Download the tab, notation, and jam track for this jazz turnaround on TrueFire.

Jazz Turnaround #15: Breakdown


Jazz Turnaround #20: Overview

The chords for Turnaround #20 are Eb6/9 – Cm7 – Bbsus – Bb9. The use of the sus chord and 6/9 chord are implemented in this turnaround.

Jazz Turnaround #20: Performance

Download the tab, notation, and jam track for this jazz turnaround on TrueFire.

Jazz Turnaround #20: Breakdown


Make sure to check out the guitar lessons in the rest of the course on TrueFire to get even more jazz guitar turnarounds to add in to your repertoire. There are 26 more turnaround ideas that you can use in a variety of playing situations. Check it out now!