The double plagal run to the horizon: start three borrowed chords deep and climb home in stacked fourths, majors all the way. The last two rungs are the familiar b7 → 4 → 1; the first two explain where that energy comes from. Rock's answer to the falling-fifths chain — same wheel, opposite direction.
hear it in “Hey Joe” — the full five-chord chain
Lead-in — how players set it upFrom 1 — leap out to b6 and let the ladder carry you back.Or enter one rung up — b3 onward is the familiar chain.Or power-chord the whole ladder — the metal reading.Follow — where it usually goesCap the arrival with a true cadence for contrast.Loop the top: b7, 4, 1 keeps the engine idling.Or ride the ladder past home and it becomes a modulation.
Major pentatonic of each chord for one beat each — or ride the home blues scale over the whole ladder; both read as conviction.Target tones (in C)Ab — lean on C (3)Eb — lean on G (3)Bb — lean on D (3)F — lean on A (3)C — lean on E (3)Half-step wiresAb ↘ G · Eb ↘ D · Bb ↘ A · F ↘ E