Characterizations of American hardcore punk rock often emphasize the energy in its performance. While fast tempos and concise song forms certainly invite such descriptions, the performative actions of guitarists also play a role. For instance, Stevie Chick (2009) states that Black Flag's songs "reveled in the pure rush delivered by riffs that, in their ascendant and descendent simplicity, packed an almost physical punch" (51). My own reactions are similar: while I hear pitches and rhythms I also feel the physical gestures with which they are performed. In this paper I highlight this feature by examining guitar riffs as series of lateral motions along a fretboard. Many of these gestures reflect a structural basis in what I call "riff schemes": organizing patterns of physical repetition and change. There are four main types: (1) riffs that begin with a repeated gesture before undergoing change; (2) riffs that begin with a repeated gesture before undergoing a change that creates an expansion; (3) riffs that follow a pattern of statement and varied repetition; and (4) riffs in which an initial gesture is subject to transposition. Further, these schemes often participate in creating the kind of energy that is identified in oral histories of the genre, and I conclude the paper with an analysis of Minor Threat's "Straight Edge," a song that demonstrates this use. In order to capture this relationship between the composition, performance, and reception of hardcore punk rock, all musical examples will be supplemented with live guitar performances.