Is There a Definition of a Musical "Hook"?

[Jinx]

I’ve never heard this term until recently. I fail to see what it specifically means. When a word is used too broadly, it loses its meaning, and this is the case here. Is it any part of a song that’s catchy? Heck, that could be the chorus, a riff, a silly word or slang phrase that catches on amongst teens, etc…

Then, there are those annoying songs you can never get out of your head like Karma Chameleon. Even if you lived under a rock in 1983, you could not escape this song. And, what about commercial jingles we can’t forget? You find yourself humming these jingles in the oddest times and oddest places. Is that a hook?

So, does it have a specific definition in the music industry? Do all #1 songs have a hook? Don’t forget some very sad songs have hit #1 in the rock era…when there actually was a Top 40, not a Top 10! :eek: - Jinx

[Trunk]

@Jinx

I’ve never heard this term until recently. I fail to see what it specifically means. When a word is used too broadly, it loses its meaning, and this is the case here.

You just heard it recently, but you’re already declaring it’s used too broadly and has lost its meaning?

Is it any part of a song that’s catchy? Heck, that could be the chorus, a riff, a silly word or slang phrase that catches on amongst teens, etc…

Then, there are those annoying songs you can never get out of your head like Karma Chameleon. Even if you lived under a rock in 1983, you could not escape this song. And, what about commercial jingles we can’t forget? You find yourself humming these jingles in the oddest times and oddest places. Is that a hook?

So, does it have a specific definition in the music industry? Do all #1 songs have a hook? Don’t forget some very sad songs have hit #1 in the rock era…when there actually was a Top 40, not a Top 10! :eek: - Jinx

I think it’s one of those things that’s “I know it when I hear it”.

Yeah, I’d say that a record exec who first heard “karma karma karma karma karma cha-meal-e-on” went away thinking, “it’s got a great hook”.

Really, it’s just something to grab onto when you hear a song. It might be a beat, a melody, a particular repeated lyrical phrase.

“does that make me CRAY-AY-zee? does that make me cray-zee?”

I’d call the bass line from “another one bites the dust” the hook in that song.

dum.dum.dum. (beat) da dumdum dumdum dah.

dum.dum.dum. (beat) da dumdum dumdum dah.

(although, I wouldn’t argue too vehemently if someone called the lyric a hook)

[Zebra]

The hook brings you back, I aint telling you no lies.