Minor Round Trip

i–bVII–bVI–bVII · C minor · i–bVII–bVI–bVII

Minor Round Trip is a chord pattern you can play in any key. The degrees are i–bVII–bVI–bVII.

Goes down and comes back the same way, which turns hypnotic the more it repeats. Good for setting a mood at a slow tempo.

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 – bVII – bVI – bVII

Cm · Bb · Ab · Bb

Chord chart

Chord chart
1	Cm	Bb	Ab	Bb

How to sing it

It goes down and returns the same way, so nothing ever resolves. Stay in one range and repeat the same words like a chant and it turns hypnotic; it does not suit a big, bursting chorus.

In every key

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

Heard in

All Along the Watchtower · Bob Dylan · Jimi Hendrix. The Dylan original is Am–G–F–G; the 1968 Hendrix recording sounds a semitone lower because of its tuning. It never resolves, just goes back and forth to the end.
In the Air Tonight · Phil Collins. Chorus only, Dm–C–B♭–C in D minor. The verse is essentially a pedal on one chord, so transcriptions disagree about its chords.

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.