Hook (music)

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A hook is a musical idea, a passage or phrase, that is believed to be catchy and helps the song stand out; it is "meant to catch the ear of the listener" (Covach 2005, p.71). This term generally applies to popular music, especially rock music.

1 Explanation
2 Examples
3 Songs
4 References
5 Further reading
6 See also

[edit] Explanation

A hook can, in general, be either melodic or rhythmic, and often incorporates the main motif for a piece of music. Characteristics of a melodic hook include skips in the tonal line; however, details of what makes a tune "catchy" are difficult to describe. A rhythmic hook can be equally catchy by employing syncopation or other devices, but there are still examples of rhythmic hooks which are very straightforward, such as the first theme in Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.

[edit] Examples

The hook of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" (based on an mbube folk song) is considered to be one of the catchiest of all pop hooks. It consists of a background chorale of "a-weem-o-weh, a-weem-o-weh, a-weem-o-weh, a-weem-o-weh," with a falsetto vocal on top.

In "Be My Baby", performed by The Ronettes, the hook consists of the "be my baby" lyrics over the conventional I-vi-IV-V chord progression of the chorus (ibid). Also, in Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana (band), the part of the song that begins with "With the lights out" is considered the hook of that song.

Hooks also occur in much classical music. A good example of the melodic type discussed above is the theme from Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 (featured in Elvira Madigan).

[edit] Songs

The concept of a musical hook is itself the subject of the 1994 Blues Traveler song "Hook", in which the band ridicules itself for playing a nonsensical song reliant on a catchy hook.

[edit] References

Covach, John (2005). “Form in Rock Music: A Primer”, Stein, Deborah: Engaging Music: Essays in Music Analysis. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-517010-5.