A hook is the part of a song you cannot stop hearing after it has finished. It is what people hum, search for, and sing back at a gig. Most hit songs have several, and the best producers think about hooks at every level of a production - not just the chorus melody.
Types of hook
- Melodic - a short, singable phrase. Usually the chorus melody, often on the title.
- Lyrical - a line or phrase that lands: the title, a twist, a question, a catchphrase.
- Rhythmic - a distinctive rhythm in the vocal or an instrument. Rhythm is often what makes a melody memorable.
- Instrumental riff - a guitar, synth or bass figure that becomes as recognisable as the vocal. Many riffs are hooks in their own right.
- Sonic - a particular sound: a vocal chop, a unique synth, a drum sound, an ad-lib. The sound itself becomes the signature.
- Structural - a surprise in the arrangement: a drop, a key change, a sudden stop.
What makes a hook work
- Brevity. Most hooks are two to four bars - short enough to remember after one hearing.
- Repetition. A hook is repeated within the chorus and every time the chorus returns. Some songs repeat their hook dozens of times.
- Simplicity. Few notes, small intervals, a clear rhythm. If a hook is hard to sing, it is hard to remember.
- Contrast. A hook stands out because something around it is different - higher, lower, sparser, busier.
- A strong rhythm. Say the hook without the melody. If the rhythm alone is distinctive, you are halfway there.
- Resolution - or the lack of it. A hook that ends on the home note feels finished. One that ends just short of it makes you want to hear it again.
Where hooks go
- The chorus, on or around the title.
- The intro - many songs open with an instrumental version of the chorus hook so it is familiar before the vocal arrives.
- Post-chorus and drops, where a vocal chop or synth line repeats the hook.
- Between vocal lines - an instrumental answer to the vocal (call and response) can become a second hook.
A song with one hook works. A song with a melodic hook, a riff, and a signature sound in the production is harder to forget.
Writing hooks
- Start from the title. Sing the title over your chorus chords in as many ways as you can. Record everything; pick the best.
- Write the rhythm first. Clap or tap a pattern, then find notes for it.
- Use a motif. Take three or four notes and repeat them, then vary the end.
- Write the riff to the drums. A riff that locks to the groove is more memorable than one that floats over it.
- Find the sound. Spend time on the sound of your hook. A plain melody on a unique sound can work better than a clever melody on a preset.
Testing a hook
- Leave it overnight. If you are still humming it the next morning, it works.
- Play it to someone once, then ask them to sing it back.
- Strip the production away and sing it unaccompanied. A strong hook survives without the track.
- Check that it does not sound like an existing hook. Familiarity is good; copying is not.
Do this now
- Choose three songs you love and identify every hook in each - melodic, lyrical, rhythmic, instrumental and sonic.
- Write five different hooks over the chorus of your C major project: two melodic, one riff, one rhythmic chant, one built from a vocal chop.
- Leave them overnight and keep the one you remember.