Aggressive Chord Progressions & Guitar Chords

i · VI · VII · i

The quintessential heavy metal progression using power chords. The bVI-bVII movement creates that aggressive, driving metal sound that defined thrash and heavy metal.

I · IV · V

Fast, simple, and aggressive. The Ramones took basic rock chords and played them at breakneck speed with all downstrokes, creating the blueprint for punk rock.

I · IV · V

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.