Three-Chord Punk (I-IV-V)

About

Three major chords, played fast, downstroked throughout. Punk did not invent I-IV-V — it is the backbone of blues and early rock and roll — but it stripped the progression of everything else and ran it at double the tempo, which is why two minutes of it still sounds like an argument.

Songs that use this chord progression

• I Wanna Be Sedated — Ramones
  E – A – B in E
• Should I Stay or Should I Go — The Clash
  D – G – A in D
• Teenage Kicks — The Undertones