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Since our next monthly challenge is to create a hook, I’ve already been pondering over it in my spare time. How should I go about it? What makes a good hook?
I would say that Tom Petty was a master of “the hook”. He said that whenever he was writing a song, he imagined that his audience was telling him “You’re starting to bore us, now get to the chorus.” (Remember, what we used to call the “chorus” is now called a “hook”.) But which did he write first, the verse or the chorus?
And that raises the question: Would a standalone hook still be a good hook without the surrounding verses? It seems to me that part of what makes a good hook is that it stands out as quite different from the rest of the song.
Bob Dylan has some interesting hooks which are outside the box. Think of “Come in she said I’ll give you, shelter from the storm.” That’s a hook, but it’s not a chorus. It’s just the last line of each verse. Some Pink Floyd songs are like that.
Some people say that an intro lick can become the main hook of a song. 7 Nation Army by The White Stripes. Most songs by ZZ Top. Smoke on the Water, Sunshine of Your Love, most AC/DC songs, etc etc etc.
Feeling more and more confused, I turned to AI, which said:
“Key Characteristics of a Good Hook:
Repetition: Repeats frequently to become an “earworm,” such as the title repetition in Pharrell Williams’ “[Happy]”.
Contrast: Stands out from the surrounding verse with higher energy, a different rhythm, or melody, as seen in “[Since U Been Gone]” by Kelly Clarkson.
Simplicity: Often simple enough to be easily remembered after one listen.”
So, do any of my fellow members have any words of wisdom for those of us struggling to design a decent hook?
Sunjamr Steve
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The Beatles were absolute masters of capturing your attention immediately. So they hooked you from the very beginning of the song by creating a different unique sounds, riffs, well composed melodies, or something as simple as that very first chord in “Hard Days Night”. They just commanded attention and a desire to hear what comes next.
Now contrast that with songs that as soon as you hear them, they sound dull, uninteresting, predictable, and if it was on the radio you would immediately change the station. A good hook captures the listeners attention right away and becomes a theme throughout at least part of the song. I’m thinking of “Hey Jude”. That particular song had multiple musical hooks going on, but it started with Paul’s vocals and piano in the first 25 seconds. Then the tambourine kicks in for the second verse and when Paul says “the minute, you let her under your skin…” a chorus of back up vocals kicks in. The same repeated hook is getting stronger and stronger as interest builds. Ringo finally comes in for the second part of the song and I would say this is a variation on the original hook that is at least as good as the original one if not better. The bass player comes in there as well and the back up vocals get a little louder.
At about the 1:22 mark, Paul goes from singing lyrics to doing his first na na na nah nah, nah nah nah. I would say that small non lyrical vocal part right there is crowning hook of the whole song, but it was born out of the original simple melody sung in the very beginning of the song. As you know, that theme comes back near the end of the song to a massive chorus of singers singing their na na na’s backed up with orchestral musicians. It’s such an awesome build up and well themed from when hooks were first introduced that you don’t care how long the song was.
So now your probably wondering what does this have to do with guitar? If we are just playing guitar and there is nothing else, then it all comes down to sonic melodic rhythm in the voice of a guitar in a way that quite possibly has not been done before. If we were creating a song, there might be more than one guitar hook or variation of the original within that song.
For maximum creativity, I think we need to put the guitar down and start with our own voice first and just sing something that sparks the emotional mood at the time. Hum it, maybe just start with the rhythm of it, but start capturing your moods in the form of your own voice and record it or transfer it to playing your guitar as soon as you get a decent idea.
This should give you multiple simple idea’s to start with and from there, you can experiment with your original idea to best express it on your guitar. Remember, this does not have to be a flawless knock you off your seat guitar riff, that might come about in an actual song, but it should have something of great interest that captures your attention or anyone else’s attention that happens to hear it for the first time. It’s just one of possibly many hooks that could be in an actual song, but there is usually one particular part that sticks in our heads even after many years.
That song the Cars made called Fear Factor seems so simple, but look how cool they made that simple phrase sound. At the start they had that awesome warbling space sound that faded in and then the drummer led the band into that iconic melody with that droning A note that descends down a simple G arpeggio on the synth. It definitely was a combination of hooks that together became more powerful then they would be by themselves.
Go slow and practice correct technique, and your abilities will dramatically improve.
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As Michael eluded to, sometimes the hook is the more complex harmonic content, like the opening chord in “A Hard Day’s Night”. I also think of the opening upstrummed E minor 9 chord in Pink Floyd’s “Breathe” followed by rhythmic variations on an A and A7. That modal Dorian sound is also part of the hook.
Alternatively, simple, easily repeatable is a big part of it based on all the simple major and minor pentaonic hooks of the 60’s and 70’s. Think of “My Girl” or Muddy Water’s “Mannish Boy”.
John -
I differ in my definition. A hook is not necessarily a chorus, though it often is. A chorus has lyrics, a hook may not. It’s always a memorable musical passage.
Examples that come to mind: Petty / Campbell: Breakdown. That descending three bar passage between verses Campbell dreamed up during a take while noodling on the outro. Somebody on the session said “Hey! WTF was that? You need to keep it and do it all the way through”. It’s a classic hook, check out Mike’s memoirs for the details.
Last Dance w/Mary Jane has one too (the blues harp lines), Cream’s Sunshine of Your Love (the whole song is one giant hook). Muddy Waters songs are pretty hooky. The Stones, of course, are hook monsters, Brown Sugar, Jumpin’ Jack Flash, Satisfaction come first to mind.
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To me, the Hook is the signature part of a song/tune which is the part you will always remember, which can be played at the start of a number or repeated throughout. A classic example of a short 3 note hook is at the start of Alan Parsons ‘Sirius’ The Verve’s / Richard Ashcroft’s – Bitter Sweet Symphony has another memorable hook.
Richard
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I have to admit that I’m struggling with this challenge at the moment, but it’s only been a couple of days so hopefully something will fall under my fingers 🤞🤞😂😂
I’m inclined to think of this like Steve said: A chorus without the words; or even the Call of a Call/Response. I just can’t come up with anything interesting – it’s all sounding rather bland and forgettable right now ☹️☹️
Anyway, plenty of time to noodle around and see if a lightbulb goes off – that’s what I’m hoping for 😂😂
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I differ in my definition. A hook is not necessarily a chorus, though it often is. A chorus has lyrics, a hook may not. It’s always a memorable musical passage.
Examples that come to mind: Petty / Campbell: Breakdown. That descending three bar passage between verses Campbell dreamed up during a take while noodling on the outro. Somebody on the session said “Hey! WTF was that? You need to keep it and do it all the way through”. It’s a classic hook, check out Mike’s memoirs for the details.
Last Dance w/Mary Jane has one too (the blues harp lines), Cream’s Sunshine of Your Love (the whole song is one giant hook). Muddy Waters songs are pretty hooky. The Stones, of course, are hook monsters, Brown Sugar, Jumpin’ Jack Flash, Satisfaction come first to mind.
Absolutely, you got the idea. since music is not exclusively guitar, a hook can be anything audibly interesting that captures the listener attention and causes the desire to listen further. The best ones use it as a theme that repeats throughout or is revisited later. It’s just that the chorus ends up being a common culmination or an amplification of it that seals the deal in a lot of songs.
The hook in advertising works the same way, something is said or shown that captures the viewers interest and holds it long enough to deliver the advertisers intended message which is always to use their product they sell. In music, the musician is selling a feeling or generating an emotional message that almost hypnotically pulls you in.
Go slow and practice correct technique, and your abilities will dramatically improve.
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I differ in my definition. A hook is not necessarily a chorus, though it often is. A chorus has lyrics, a hook may not. It’s always a memorable musical passage.
Examples that come to mind: Petty / Campbell: Breakdown. That descending three bar passage between verses Campbell dreamed up during a take while noodling on the outro. Somebody on the session said “Hey! WTF was that? You need to keep it and do it all the way through”. It’s a classic hook, check out Mike’s memoirs for the details.
Last Dance w/Mary Jane has one too (the blues harp lines), Cream’s Sunshine of Your Love (the whole song is one giant hook). Muddy Waters songs are pretty hooky. The Stones, of course, are hook monsters, Brown Sugar, Jumpin’ Jack Flash, Satisfaction come first to mind.
Absolutely, you got the idea. since music is not exclusively guitar, a hook can be anything audibly interesting that captures the listener attention and causes the desire to listen further. The best ones use it as a theme that repeats throughout or is revisited later. It’s just that the chorus ends up being a common culmination or an amplification of it that seals the deal in a lot of songs.
The hook in advertising works the same way, something is said or shown that captures the viewers interest and holds it long enough to deliver the advertisers intended message which is always to use their product they sell. In music, the musician is selling a feeling or generating an emotional message that almost hypnotically pulls you in.
Exactly. Hookiest songs I can think off the top my head:
Venus – Shocking Blue/Bananarama – serial vocal- & instrumental hooks throughout
Der Kommissar – Falco – vocal hooks, so cool…
So many Blondie songs, probably the majority
Likewise the Police, e.g. Message In a Bottle with its vocal “EEyoh ohs” and that killer guitar line
Dire Straits – Money For Nothing. That guitar hook’s in play from intro thru to fadeout. The lyrical narrative pass is one big cultural hook, probablyThere are millions of examples out there.
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Excellent thoughts, guys! And now I’m thinking about an old saying in the business world: “The best way to achieve success is to copy success.”
So maybe I could start with some famous hook, and just modify it slightly by changing a few notes, or whatever. True, it would not be 100% original, but what music is now days? After all, when I was born, I knew nothing about melodies and notes and chords. So technically, every bit of music I have ever composed has been based on something I heard somewhere.
Sunjamr Steve
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I’m trying desperately to not copy any existing note/melody combination, but in the end, there is probably some song out there that has already done something similar. I hear what your saying Steve, but I still think it would serve you better to just start out with a simple idea that comes out of your soul and just experiment with it. For me, as I play or sing the simple phrases, another idea will come from the first like a branch growing out of tree. It feels like I’m tapping into the Akashic records of time. It’s already been done some time in the past, but it seems new to me so I’ll just roll with it. We all have a unique ability to create, let’s do some creating.
I’ve had five ideas so far and each of them have their own character. This last one I’m working on blew my mind. I feel like I stumbled onto something special, but I admit it’s nothing earth shattering. I just feel that it has a good sound when I play back my recorded sample. If I still like it after a few days and I let some of my friends listen to it, I’ll know it’s good enough to use a submission.
The first one I did got me excited, but when I listened to it the next day I realized that it didn’t have that hook that I initially thought. So I quickly set out to come up with some other idea. Again, I just started with a simple idea that just popped into my head. I think it was because I was eating pancakes and the dog was there begging for a nibble as she always does. So the word phrase came out to be “Don’t eat all the pancakes, save some for moose.”. Then it morphed into a melody that I just came up with to fit those words. Somehow it all started to twist and turn into something else and I played around with those ideas for hours. The song will potentially be called “A Friend For Life”. It’s amazing how little simple things can just be the bed rock for an entire song. Maybe I’ll figure out a way to make is sound more catchy, but switching idea’s ended up being a good thing.
Go slow and practice correct technique, and your abilities will dramatically improve.
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As the good wife always reminds me “There are only three songs and three stories; all the rest are copies!!
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A good friend of mine used to say that there are only actually around 300 different people on earth. The rest are all just copies. And his theory is based on the fact that most of us know someone who seems very similar to someone else we have met or known.
Sunjamr Steve
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😊 That instantly reminded me of the scene from Life of Brian where he’s trying to escape from the multitude that’s been following him around:
Brian: Look, you’ve got it all wrong! You don’t NEED to follow ME, you don’t NEED to follow ANYBODY! You’ve got to think for your selves! You’re ALL individuals!
The Crowd: Yes! We’re all individuals!
Brian: You’re all different!
The Crowd: Yes, we are all different!
Man in crowd: I’m not…
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