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Aspire to be a commercial tunesmith, or just want to give
your own tracks more mass appeal? Join us as we delve into
the methods and mindset of the pro songwriter
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Hooks
|Ahook sa masica ar yea phrase that engages
{your eat andits tne mastimportant elemento
{ry pop song worth its sat Agood hooks
{alchy the Geman worafor is obrwurm,
‘atic ansates os ‘ear-woet Fora pop sonato
Deteiy ring onalleyinders, there mst be 3
cluster of hook all working together to imprint
‘the song wel andtruly into your memory 20 that
en trishes you want topay again. and
‘hen you cari playit again youhear ls your
head anyway
“oput simpy. ahook should beshert and
‘imple that way ts easy to remember, whether
‘you want a remember tarot f your sone
Sccessul the majonty of people wna Near are
not gong tobe cists or musicians and yout
Pooks must transcend the business of wring
and be completely accessibe toa They must be
Instant singabe by anyone.
Some examples cassie hooks ae “Mo hoo”
trom Song2by Blur "Money. money mney”
‘tom Price Tog by Jessie J- or form Money
Money Money by ABBA:"Na nana. ana naa
a rom Can? Get You Out of My Head by Ke:
Grthe ottencted opening gular nif fromthe
Roling Stones Satisfaction.
Dorit make the mistake of inking that a
Simple nooks moronic many umesthey work
for quite complex easons B's "Woo hoa acts
asthe ave tohelp disguise natun around the
monster bass and guitar i happening
Underneath The Satsfaction it creates
pagal cadence -a musical device forthe
{eaton and teense of musialtesion with
Ieroots ancient coral muse, butin his
«ase the contests changed to rock ol
Lurking just beneath theskinof every
succestulsong areolher kinds of hooks,
Some longer and more complex The
inclusion of shorter more obvious hooks
-Kaops you intereste ong enough fr the
bighootstosinkin and ance theyre
there thy e there or gooa Vislsing
A bigtning hook biting with at and
‘00d woy o keepin in mine how you
Raveto ensnare your stones Whichever
vay they sim there canbe no eseape!
Making a strong hook
SIMPLIFY UNTIL A tmemostsuccesslsongs-youssthestoprestan middle eight
HOOK APPEARS tedtieinefeclonaredioland Dexys angi mmers Come
Takeanobjectivelookatan Yourish Hooks mustbe ‘nten orth tne signature
‘existing lyricinyourtrack.Getridanticipated-thellstener needs changesin Kasabian’ ire.
fofanyunnecessary words. Ask thehooks tobe deiveredat the
Yourseit"Whatamttryingtosay? rightmomentinthecontextofthe PRODUCTION HOOKS
‘ilsomeoneunderstanawhat! song. Likeajoke'spunchline,the Great records can benefit rom
‘mean? iittmemorable or hook needs toexisteffortlessly sonic production hookstoo,andit
‘annoying? Keep going backand _withinthesong’sspace, working You/rea writeriproducer you
ting this getzeasier with inharmony withthe other ‘should definitely include some ot
practice-untilahookemerges. elementsthat surround. ‘hese your deme’ production
‘ofthe song (which, needlessto
WRITE FOR A CHILD. REPEAT HOOKS {ay.should be of broadcast!
Imagine youre targeting a Aneffectivenooknecdstobe _feleasestandard, Think ofthe
fiveryearoldtoensurecttectve repeated. Thesamehookcanbe radio vocal soundof Video Killed
communication of your concept. replayedindlfferentheysto the Radio Stary Buggles or the
Youcanstilwriteonmultiple _createamelody.Kyll’s Cant Get operaticmiddle eight of Queen's
levelsisimpledoesnotequal You OutofMy Head wses"Nana_ ‘Bohemian Rhapsody ~or ry to
DabyishlUseasfewnotesas ___naasthemainhook, but padded Imagine Cher’ elleve without
possible andemploy anysoundor outwithextra"nanana-nana’s. the AutoTune.
‘Word real or made up) that ‘Themain-Na nana" happens
Createssomething themindcan _exactlythesameway every time STORYLINE HOOKS
Sooo <= ee cas
cos Soe
cirpiede | STRUCTURAL HOOKS, Saiguremraiaio
Dehaviouralviruses-think"Talk Structural hooks helpyou guess _directlon|ust before the last
{othehand”or“Wassaaaapp" —_what'scomingby using diferent chorus Listen totam by Eminem,
trom the BudwelserTVads. patternsof repetition. Like ‘Babooshka by Kate Bush or
—_ Internal hyming.ahooky melody Rupert Holmes’ Escape the "pina
‘ONTEXT foriyriccanbe madeupotsmaler colada” song). Inthese genius
Tocontinuethehook/tishing _subshooks.Dramaticchanges of songs, the chorusis the same
analogy.hooksalonedon'tmake pacelstyle are also effective,
80 | COMPUTER MUSIC SPECIAL
ich throulghoutbutthe context
‘changes atthe end to provides
{inal plot twist
STEAL SOMEONE
ELSES HOOKS!
Hiphop established the magple
‘eulture of adopting pats of other
recordings aspartoranew
Collage of sound. Often MCs rap
theverses over hooky sampled
beats andbreaksandusean
‘entire chorus from another tne.
Me abltikerent-s-hook, because
Yyouraveto pay foritjbutitsa
‘reat way to complete your tunes,
IMyouonly seem tobeableto
‘writeverses!,
CREATE ANEW SOUND
‘Supergroup ABBA notoniyhad
‘the traditional melodyyrichook
thing sewn up, butalsohad aMair
{or creating original sounds inthe
‘tual. Using clever orchestration
‘of altterent instrument