Hook

A hook is a musical idea, often a short riff, passage, or phrase, that is used in popular music to make a song appealing and to "catch the ear of the listener"^[1]. The term generally applies to popular music, especially rock music, hip hop, dance music, and pop. In these genres, the hook is often found in, or consists of, the chorus. A hook can, in general, be either melodic or rhythmic, and often incorporates the main motif for a piece of music.

Definitions

One definition of a hook is "a musical or lyrical phrase that stands out and is easily remembered^[2]". All definitions typically include some of the following: that a hook is repetitive, attention-grabbing, memorable, easy to dance to, and has commercial potential and lyrics. A hook has been defined as a "part of a song, sometimes the title or key lyric line, that keeps recurring"^[3]. Alternatively, the term has been defined as

It is hard to define what features make a hook appealing to listeners. While some melodic hooks include skips of a third or more to make the line more interesting, a hook can be equally catchy by employing rhythmic syncopation or other devices. A hook may also garner attention from listeners from other factors, such as the vocal timbre or instrumentation, as in the case of the Beach Boys' use of an unusual theremin-like instrument in "Good Vibrations". Some hooks become popular without using any unusual elements. For example, in the song "Be My Baby", performed by The Ronettes, the hook consists of the words "be my baby" over the conventional I-vi-IV-V chord progression of the chorus^[4].

Popular culture references

• In the 1994 Blues Traveler song "Hook", the band critiques themselves, and popular music conventions, by playing a song that both criticises and is reliant on a catchy hook.
• The Korn song "Y'All Want a Single" (and to a greater extent its music video) mocks the American record industry's focus on catchy hooks to sell records.
• In the 2003 hip-hop song "Wat Da Hook Gon Be" by artist Murphy Lee, the chorus states "I don't need no fucking hook on this beat," implying that the song's lyrics are catchy enough. However, the chorus he referred to was in fact a hook.
• In his song "Ice Ice Baby", Vanilla Ice heralds his hook with the line "Check out the hook while my DJ revolves it."
• The Electro House artist BSOD's (Deadmau5 and Steve Duda) song "This is the Hook" precedes the hook of the song each time it is played with a computerized voice stating "This is the hook." Succeeding the hook, the voice states "It's catchy. You like it," poking fun at the dependence of much of electronic music on catchy sounds in the hook to gain popularity.
• The Newsboys song "I Fought the La..." begins with the words "Mama always said 'keep it simple'/A killer hook and you're ready to move".
• The AFI Song "Miss Murder" "What's the hook, the twist within this verbose mystery?"
• The Bomb the Music Industry! song "It Ceases to Be ‘Whining’ If You’re Still ‘Shitting Blood’” contains the line "So write one song without a hook, remember why you wrote songs in the first place."
• The Fight Like Apes song "Something Global" contains the line "hooks are for wimps and choruses for gays" and then in the actual chorus "give me my hook".

Use in market research

The hooks of songs may be used in market research to assist in gauging the popularity of a song by the recognizability of its hook. Often radio stations conduct "call out" either on the Internet, via telephone, or a music test (either online or in an in-person setting) to conduct surveys. Stations may use the services of a professional "hook service" such as Hooks Unlimited^[5] or Autohook (founded in 1983)^[6] or prepare the materials themselves. Hooks used are typically seven to ten seconds long.

See also

References

• Gary Burns (January 1987). "A Typology of "Hooks" in Popular Records". Popular Music 6 (1): 1–20. doi:10.1017/S0261143000006577. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0261-1430(198701)6%3A1%3C1%3AATO'IP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-R. 
• Covach, John (2005). "Form in Rock Music: A Primer". in Stein, Deborah. Engaging Music: Essays in Music Analysis. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-517010-5. 

Notes