Day 7: Turnarounds

From: 14-day Pop Vocals Course With Abram
by Abram Poliakoff
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Description:

We’re calling today’s pop riff a “turnaround”, or a riff that changes direction. Learning and singing patterns like these will help you to recognize them in other songs, especially when they’re part of longer, more complex riffs!

Let’s learn that first turnaround. Notice we’re singing the same pitch at the beginning, middle and end. 

Learn it with me, nice and slowly, and I encourage you to use your hand as well to help guide the pitch!

Listen & repeat: 2-3212

Exercise 1: Oh 321 (slow), yeah 2-3212

Good work! Let’s add this turnaround onto the end of a simple melody. We’ll sing oh [321] yeah [2-3212]. I won’t play the turnaround on the keyboard, so you can take it at your own pace. 

Let’s learn one more turnaround! The shape of this melody looks a little different. It may be easiest to think of it as walking down the stairs, but you start on the step just below the top of the staircase. 

Learn this with me, listen & repeat style!

Listen & repeat: 3-4321

Exercise 2: 1 2 (slow), 3-4321

Add this onto a simple melody. You can use any three words, but I’ll sing on the words “you and I”. Follow along this time. Again, I won’t play the turnaround on the keyboard, so you can go slowly if needed!

Think we can find a few spots in our song to add a turnaround? Let’s take a look!

Song work: Incorporate turnarounds within “Never Leave you” (full)

Play & sing “Never Leave You”

Bm
You’re in my head
G
You’re in my dreams
F#m
The words you said
G
Comfort me

D
“I will never leave you
A
I’ll always hold you tight
Bm
I’ll Love you and protect you
G
And I will never leave you”
(D)

See if you can identify either of these patterns in the songs you listen to, and try adding one into your song of choice!  If you get lost, remember that you can use your hand to help guide the pitch. As a final note, a few well placed turnarounds can really enhance the emotion and style of a pop song, but adding in too many can get annoying and can ultimately detract from the meaning and melody. So pick your riff moments wisely and allow them to surprise and impress the listener. 

Great job in finishing your first week! We will see you in the second half of the course.

Lessons:

Instructor: Abram Poliakoff

Abram Poliakoff is a singer, guitarist, pianist, teacher, conductor, and composer. He received a Bachelors of Music in Vocal Arts from USC’s Thornton School of Music and has been teaching music for 8 years. He is currently both the Associate Artistic Director and a tenor in the L.A. Choral Lab, which recently released its first studio album Sonic Visions in the fall of 2019. Abram teaches and performs a wide range of genres including Classical, Jazz, Folk and Popular music in the Los Angeles area. He has also sung with the San Francisco Opera and Pocket Opera in the Bay Area. His teaching mission is to help his students utilize vocal technique to find their authentic and healthy voice while maximizing genre flexibility and a naturalness of expression.