Have you ever heard of harmonic turns? Surely. In any case, even if you don’t know what they are, don’t be scared: they are simpler than you can imagine. In fact, it is a question of having a circle of agreements, a succession of agreements that is repeated over time. For example, if I take the chords of C major and D minor, and decide to repeat this sequence of chords several times over time, a harmonic circle will be created
The harmonic round is therefore a succession of chords that are repeated in the same order for the entire duration of the piece within a specific key.
The harmonic turn often takes its name from the first of the chords on which it is built: for example, the C turn is built on the chords of C major, A minor, F major and G major, while the D turn is built on the chords of D major, B minor, G major and A major.
This succession is obtained by following certain theoretical rules. In addition to having a didactic purpose, the harmonic circle is often used as a basis for improvisation and constitutes the basic harmonic structure of many pieces, particularly in pop music.
The harmonic turn is obtained, within a given key, by taking four chords built on as many degrees of the major scale. In this regard, we consider the harmonization of the major scale reported below
The harmonic round involves the use of the four chords found on the 1st, 2nd, 5th and 6th degree of the major scale. These chords, however, are played in the following sequence: I -VI -II -V, or in the variant: I -VI -IV -V. So in the case of the key of C major: C, A min, D min, G; or C, A min, F, G (in Italy it is commonly referred to as the “giro di C” or even “the barber’s tour” with reference to Gioacchino Rossini’s The Barber of Seville).
Turn of C
A characteristic of harmonic turns is that the 5th degree chord is played as a seventh.
Below is the table with all the harmonic turns in all keys:
However, the main harmonic turns have already been built by others before us and it is good to know them because they are found everywhere (but especially in light and pop music).
Examples:
Turn of C:
On the keyboard:
On the guitar:
Turn of G:
On the keyboard:
On the guitar:
Turn of F:
On the keyboard:
On the guitar:
Turn of Blues:
On the keyboard:
On the guitar:
