Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Hooks - making your song memorable

Hooks are for catching your listerner's attention (and fish) and to help them remember your song. In a class that I just took on SongU , they described four types of hooks. These are:

1) Lyrical hooks - That one line of verse that you remember from a song. From last year's Song School, I still remember the hook from one artist, "she only loves me when she's drunk." Unfortunately, I don't remember his name.

2) Rhythmic hook - That groove that has you keeping time all the way home (i.e. "We will Rock You.")

3) Melodic hook - The line you're always humming. Often paired with the lyrical hook.

4) Musical/instrumental break - Typically an intro, outro or break in a song. For example, the first lines of Stairway to Heaven (mandatory for all guitarists). Great for that game, I can name that song in -- notes...

Generating good hooks are some things that I need to work on. In writing songs, I tend to focus on getting the story down or cool guitar parts, not helping the listerner remember my song.

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