Minor Four Chords

i–bVI–bIII–bVII · Minor pop progression · C minor · i–bVI–bIII–bVII

Play this pattern

Minor Four Chords is a chord pattern you can play in any key. The degrees are i–bVI–bIII–bVII.

The four chords minor keys use most. Dark without being heavy, so it fits rock and ballads alike.

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

i – bVI – bIII – bVII

Cm · Ab · Eb · Bb

Chord chart

Chord chart
1	Cm	Ab	Eb	Bb

How to sing it

The first chord is the darkest and the last the brightest, so start the phrase low and lift it at the end and the next lap follows naturally. Shout it and it is rock; whisper it and it is a ballad, from the same four chords.

In every key

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

Heard in

Numb · Linkin Park. F#m–D–A–E in F# minor. The guitars play power chords with no thirds, so the key is deliberately ambiguous, and many sources write it as vi–IV–I–V in A major.
Save Tonight · Eagle-Eye Cherry. Am–F–C–G in A minor, in the same order from start to finish. The F is played as Fmaj7 or F/C, and the tempo is very fast.

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.