Alt-Metal & Shoegaze Chord Progressions

Alt-metal and shoegaze share a love of contrast: crushing power chords in a minor key, and open, ringing add9 and maj7 chords that wash over the quiet parts.

Play them in A minor — or pick another key

Phrygian riff in A minor

Two power chords a half step apart — the darkest, most menacing move in heavy music. 4 bars, then it loops.

90 BPM
Four beats per bar · speed trainer goes up to 140 BPM
Press play — or hit the space bar.

Solo on the fretboard

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Chord tones A Phrygian Key note

Press play — or tap a chord above — to see its notes light up. Open the scale in the fretboard tool

Pick a progression

5 alt-metal & shoegaze progressions

  1. Phrygian riff

    i5 (2 bars) – ♭II5 (2 bars)

    Two power chords a half step apart — the darkest, most menacing move in heavy music.

    In Am: A5 – B♭5

    In Em: E5 – F5In Dm: D5 – E♭5

  2. Power-chord epic

    i5 – VI5 – III5 – VII5

    The minor pop/epic loop played as power chords — heavy, wide and emotional.

    In Am: A5 – F5 – C5 – G5

    In Em: E5 – C5 – G5 – D5In Dm: D5 – B♭5 – F5 – C5

  3. Dark descent

    i5 – VI5 – ♭II5 – i5

    Drops to VI, then the half step ♭II pulls back down to i — brooding and heavy.

    In Am: A5 – F5 – B♭5 – A5

    In Em: E5 – C5 – F5 – E5In Dm: D5 – B♭5 – E♭5 – D5

  4. Tritone riff

    i5 (2 bars) – ♭V5 – iv5

    The power chord a tritone above the root is as far from home as you can get — unsettling and aggressive.

    In Am: A5 – E♭5 – D5

    In Em: E5 – B♭5 – A5In Dm: D5 – A♭5 – G5

  5. Shoegaze verse

    iadd9 – VImaj7 – IIIadd9 – VIIsus2

    Open, ringing add9, maj7 and sus2 chords — the dreamy, washed-out verse before the heavy chorus.

    In Am: Am(add9) – Fmaj7 – Cadd9 – Gsus2

    In Em: Em(add9) – Cmaj7 – Gadd9 – Dsus2In Dm: Dm(add9) – B♭maj7 – Fadd9 – Csus2

Why they work

Power chords contain only the root and fifth, so they are neither major nor minor — the riff and the bass decide the mood. Half steps (i to ♭II) and the tritone (i to ♭V) are the darkest intervals, which is why heavy riffs lean on them.

Shoegaze turns the same minor-key loops dreamy by adding notes that ring against each other — add9, maj7 and sus2 chords with open strings. Heavy bands often play a verse this way and then hit the same progression as power chords in the chorus.

See them on the circle of fifths · Chord charts · Metronome

More chord progressions