Hooks

[john]

Hey

Ok it's been discussed before.... but what do you think are the elements of a good hook? Please give examples We could take apart some hooks and really analyze them.

Cheers

John

[JonathonHolder]

I think a hook can be anything that makes you sit up and take notice.

As you said you want real analysis...

The instrumental hook in Beyonce and Jay-Z’s ‘Crazy in Love’ is a comparison of two chords in different keys. It starts with chord IV of one key, and then moves to chord V of the dominant of the original key. A simple melody is played over each chord. Sounds incomprehensible and technical, but it has a great effect. The melody gives you something simple to focus on, the jumping key gives a tremendous sense of excitement, and the fact that it never settles on chord I draws your ear on. You are constantly listening out for a chord that will never come. It is unsatisfying. And that is exactly why it is a fantastic hook. It keeps you wanting more.

[Fapbreathe]

i dont think about stuff like that when writing music/lyrics

i write what i need to write, if ppl want to spend time noting hooks or patterns in it then so be it, im not gonna indulge it though.

each to their own and onwards.

[Lazz]

i dont think about stuff like that when writing music/lyrics

I am not sure that I am quite ready to believe that about you yet.

Just from what I've read of yours - it's not easy to take the dimissal on board.

[Fapbreathe]

I am not sure that I am quite ready to believe that about you yet.

Just from what I've read of yours - it's not easy to take the dimissal on board.

i dont think about hooks.

that does not mean there are not parts in my lyrics/music which are either repeated or have notable dominance. there is. not because i want to use that section/line as something to keep the listener listening, but because thats what best lets me get across my point.

i dont think 'hmm, ill put that bit in there again, cos thats my hook'

i write what comes into my head, if thats 'alive' thirty two times ( as it is in one AoK song i wrote) then so be it.

alive is a very strange word.

also: im not one for lies. i despise deceit, and believe that if we put up fewer walls and embraced vunerability then maybe less kids would stab other kids...

maybe.

so, i wouldnt have said i dont think about hooks, if i thought about hooks.

[Lazz]

wouldnt have said i dont think about hooks, if i thought about hooks.

Oooh...touchy.

You said you don't think about 'stuff like that'.

I thought 'stuff like that' referred to the general tenor of Jonathon's point:

i.e. juxtapositions, emotional impact, musical context, placement...

I believed you showed consideration to these qualities.

Apologies if I am mistaken.

[FinnArild]

The hook is often the first thing I write - the interest point of the song of which I build the rest of it around. I don't overthink it either, really - they just need to be there for me to think it interesting to continue on with the song.

[Fapbreathe]

Oooh...touchy.

You said you don't think about 'stuff like that'.

I thought 'stuff like that' referred to the general tenor of Jonathon's point:

i.e. juxtapositions, emotional impact, musical context, placement...

I believed you showed consideration to these qualities.

Apologies if I am mistaken.

wasnt meant to be touchy

i do give consideration to these things.

Jon didnt mention any of these things.

Jon mentioned hooks.

if these things *are* defined as hooks then forgive me, to me when ppl talk about hooks i think about sections/words meant to keep ppl listening, like a physical hook if you will.

if Jon did mention these things, then my browser is displaying the list as "Hooks", and maybe i should get some cream for it.

^^ not said like a twat.

[Nightwolf]

^^ not said like a twat.

What a twat

I understand your point. I don't think about hooks and salebility at all, but I do go "Damn, that's a sweet spot, I should run around it again". Things in your creations that stand out and get you off more than others can likely bee defined as hooks during an analysis of the tune, like I said and others have said as well "I don't overthink it" I think if you do overthink it and try to calculate it, it will come across and calculated, manipulative, and overthought

and I for one will get turned off and go away

[JonathonHolder]

Sometimes an intellectual concept can translate to emotional impact. That's when thinking comes in handy.

[Alistair]

Sometimes an intellectual concept can translate to emotional impact. That's when thinking comes in handy.

Quite

[Fapbreathe]

thinking is always handy.

otherwise we're robots.

[datsdniv]

Hi!

Been reading some topics here about hooks.And in a discussion from 2006 Lazz said

"Defining it is elusive - but, like a lot of things, we can all recognise it when we hear it.".

I searched the net for "one hit wonders" to see if I could find simularities in hooks that had proven to work well.As I began to realize that this was hard also I came across "99 luftballoons"by Nena.I`m not quite sure but I think the lyrics in this song was German,stil it became a hit worldwide...

Datsdniv

Edited November 9, 2008 by datsdniv

[TaoMannaDon]

The word "hook" can mean so many things. If it "pulls you in" then it's a hook. I remember a recording of "If You Go Away" by Neil Diamond. In the first verse of the song he sings the words "when the moon stood still" (or something like that). There was an accidental catch in his voice in that phrase that the could have easily been rerecorded; but they left it in. It sounded so real and emotional. The way he sang those words became an important "hook" for me.

There were lots of powerful hooks in that song. The title (If You Go Away) begins the verse, gets repeated several times at the end of the verse, and then is followed by a section that begins with "But if you stay." That transition of thought and the accompanying change in the music was quite powerful.

[McnaughtonPark]

If I'm just writing an adlib piece, I may not think of a hook. But, if one comes out of it, I may take it and write a complete lyric from it. If it spurs another idea, I may go with that.

[Mazrocon]

To me hook is the catchiest part of the song... a line or part that draws you in, and it's usually the title that's the hook. Three Days Grace is a great example of that. The greatest upside to three days grace is also their greatest downfall. It's catchy cause it's so repetitious, using alot of the same lines over and over again. Also a hook could be the most meaningfull part of the song, that just sticks in your head. Also a good hook could be like a clever line. Like in a Keith Urban song "And don't say that you're sorry and I won't say I told you so".

~TIMOTHY~