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I VI III II V C Am Em Dm G 'Across The Universe'

I VI III IV V C Am Em F G 'Going For The One' c

I VI IV I V C Am F C G 'Some Might Say' v.

I VI IV V I C Am F G C 'He's On The Phone' v.

Five chord turnarounds can be subject to stretching in the same way as the four-chord types. The Vapors' 'Turning
Japanese' has a verse where a I VI II IV V sequence is extended by a repetition of the first chord change. The chorus
of 'Can't Stop This Thing We Started' (IV V VI IV I) and Adams' 'It's Only Love' (VI V III IV I) both use
displacement.

Beyond Turnarounds
As popular as turnarounds are, songwriters (fortunately) often construct longer chord progressions, sometimes non-
repeating and increasingly sophisticated. It is possible to compose a 16-bar verse which is a single chord
progression. A turnaround might then be used for the chorus and sound all the more effective by contrast. Let's have
a look at one of these longer structures.
Sequences usually combine major and minor chords, but there are songs that stay on minor chords for dramatic
effect. 'Blackberry Way' is extraordinary for the stream of minor chords in its verse: Em F# Am, then Em Bm Bbm
Am Cm Em. 'December Will Be Magic Again' has Cm Gm Am Em Bm in its first verse and the second time adds
Fm Cm at the end.
Exclusively major chords in a song have been used for a psychedelic effect. 'I Am The Walrus' has no minor chords,
and songs such as 'Silver Machine' and 'Arnold Layne' are dominated by major chords. The psychedelic effect is
heightened if you spend a long time on a dominant seven chord, or if you use chromatic half-step shifts as in
Hendrix's '1983'.
You can, of course, construct verses, choruses and bridges without reference to a turnaround at all. Consider 'Like A
Rolling Stone', where the verse is I II III IV V (twice) + IV V (twice) + IV III II I (twice) + II IV V, or 'Do Anything
You Wanna Do', where the verse is V I IV + VI + II III IV V IV III II I.
Peter & Gordon's hit 'World Without Love' (written by Lennon / McCartney) shows what can be done with two
reverse polarity chords and a flat chord:

I IIImaj VI I IVm IIIVI

Eb G Cm Eb Abm Eb Fm Bb Eb

Notice how this progression pulls off chord I onto different chords and then returns, in a sense giving different views
of it. After the vocal line finishes, there is a bVI V (Cb Bb) link. Dubstar's 'Just A Girl She Said' is worth studying
for the number of progressions, including this one heard on the intro:

I II IV V III VI IV V

A Bm D E C#m F#m D E

The expectation of a turnaround generated by the first four chords is quickly dispelled by III.

Rate of Harmonic Change
When composing a song, pay close attention to the duration of chords and when they change. It is easy to fall into
the trap of having every chord occupy a bar and every change happen on the first beat of a bar. Inject variation so the
chords