Minor Royal Road

bVI–bVII–v–i · Minor form of the Royal Road · C minor · bVI–bVII–v–i

Minor Royal Road is a chord pattern you can play in any key. The degrees are bVI–bVII–v–i.

The Royal Road seen from the relative minor, ending in minor with a long afterglow. Making the third chord major pulls even harder.

Patterns are common chord moves. They are not the chart of a recorded hit.

Patterns are named by theory. Play them in any key that fits your voice.

Each song page has a chord chart, fingerings, and the same song in every key.

The pattern

bVI – bVII – v – i

Ab · Bb · Gm · Cm

Chord chart

Chord chart
1	Ab	Bb	Gm	Cm

How to sing it

Ending in minor leaves a long afterglow, so set the last chord down lightly rather than dragging the voice out. Try singing the third chord as a major chord and the pull gets far stronger.

In every key

In every key
Keys	Chord chart
C minor · Written in this key	Ab · Bb · Gm · Cm
Db minor	A · B · G#m · C#m
D minor	Bb · C · Am · Dm
Eb minor	B · C# · A#m · D#m
E minor	C · D · Bm · Em
F minor	Db · Eb · Cm · Fm
F# minor	D · E · C#m · F#m
G minor	Eb · F · Dm · Gm
Ab minor	E · F# · D#m · G#m
A minor	F · G · Em · Am
Bb minor	Gb · Ab · Fm · Bbm
B minor	G · A · F#m · Bm

Heard in

Haru Haru · BIGBANG. In E♭ minor, and really only three chords cycle: B–C#–E♭m. The v of this pattern is missing, so each lap is one slot shorter; guitar charts often write it as G–A–Bm with a capo on the fourth fret.

These songs use this pattern. This is not their chord chart: real recordings differ in key, rhythm and the chords they add.

Public-domain songs with this pattern

No Songbook entry uses this pattern as a run of chords.