Talk:Hook (music)

Hip hop

• "In hip hop music, the term is generally used as a synonym for chorus."

Is this true? Is there a source for this? Hyacinth 09:26, 15 December 2005 (UTC)

• I would be more inclined to suggest that it is synonymous with sample, though I have no source for that. Consider just about anything by Kanye West: the hook would be the sample, be it from Curtis Mayfield or Shirley Bassey, which it would be inaccurate to describe as a chorus.

--Shadebug 10:18, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

Except, as in a lot of songs, if the chorus without vocals is sampled for the verses (essentially throughout the entire song), which helps me understand that assertion of the terms use. Hyacinth 09:49, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

Only sometimes, but it is not confined only to Hip-Hop - hell even in metal music the hook is generally the chorus. Siddyjain 12:37, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

i always referred to the hook as the chorus, and i listen to all kinds of music. 75.26.36.214 22:22, 6 February 2007 (U

I wasn't doing a survey. I appreciate the help but unless any of you can cite sources that are reliable you're not helping me. Hyacinth (talk) 05:56, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

Usually the hook is the chorus, even in Bizarre's Fat boy, there's a part that reads "da girl who sings the hook". I've added Refrain, which chorus links to in the see also section, since they are linked in one way or another. But we still need those sources. -w^{L<speak·check>} 11:12, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

Possibly incorrect statement

• "This term generally applies to popular music, especially pop music."

Isn't "pop music" the same thing as "popular music"? Beno1000 15:06, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

Nope. See popular music and pop music. Hyacinth 16:50, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

Psychological point of view

Has there been any study about why some things are very catchy and some are not? Why do some melodies/hooks/riffs start "playing in your head"?

Please sign your posts on talk pages per Wikipedia:Sign your posts on talk pages. Thanks! Hyacinth (talk) 05:53, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

Musical research

I don't understand this section. Is it talking about 'hook' in some other sense? It needs to be clearer in any case. Ben Finn 12:32, 8 April 2007 (UTC)

I think this is in part related to the 10 second clip called "Call out research hook" on many promo singles (searching for an explanation for that I ended up here as most relevant). I still don't understand it, it needs to be clarified, and maybe then "Call out research hook" can be linked to this site. 137.56.138.241 09:30, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

Also known as

is there another name for hook?? (user jake) 6th january 18:15 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.14.13.8 (talk) 18:15, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

Surely. I think in practice you'll find the terms in the introduction and the terms under "see also" used interchangeably and distinctly from "hook". This is most easily explained due to the subjective nature of what a hook is, its what "stands out" and thus listeners may disagree. Hyacinth (talk) 01:49, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

Can a song have more than one hook?

All the examples in the article talk of one hook, and "the hook" implies there is just one, but is it possible for a song to have more than one hook? Do the sources quoted in the article say anything about this question?

In the example quoted of "Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys, I think that several phrases could be considered a hook, not just the theremin sound. 91.110.216.140 (talk) 15:46, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Copyright

Uh, looks like a good sized hunk of this article (beginning "The word 'hook' connotes...") is ripped straight from the Burns paper. Looks like a clear copyright violation!

--129.128.30.223 (talk) 19:07, 28 September 2009 (UTC)

By Burns it appears you mean Gary Burns (January 1987). "A Typology of "Hooks" in Popular Records". Popular Music. 6 (1): 1–20. doi:10.1017/S0261143000006577.. Hyacinth (talk) 15:42, 20 June 2010 (UTC)

Copyright problem removed

One or more portions of this article duplicated other source(s). The material was copied from: http://www.jstor.org/pss/853162. Infringing material has been rewritten or removed and must not be restored, unless it is duly released under a compatible license. (For more information, please see "using copyrighted works from others" if you are not the copyright holder of this material, or "donating copyrighted materials" if you are.) For legal reasons, we cannot accept copyrighted text or images borrowed from other web sites or published material; such additions will be deleted. Contributors may use copyrighted publications as a source of information, but not as a source of sentences or phrases. Accordingly, the material may be rewritten, but only if it does not infringe on the copyright of the original or plagiarize from that source. Please see our guideline on non-free text for how to properly implement limited quotations of copyrighted text. Wikipedia takes copyright violations very seriously, and persistent violators will be blocked from editing. While we appreciate contributions, we must require all contributors to understand and comply with these policies. Thank you. --Moonriddengirl ^(talk) 14:57, 6 October 2009 (UTC)

I find it's more helpful if people say what they are talking about and who they are talking to. Hyacinth (talk) 07:25, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

Removed: 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".

I removed the above as they are uncited. Hyacinth (talk) 07:20, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

(Above Blues Traveler reference) "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hook_%28song%29" is certainly available as a properly referenced source, and I think it's the clearest example.128.171.152.148 (talk) 20:09, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

And then that article can cite this article... Hyacinth (talk) 00:42, 7 August 2010 (UTC)

Hookline

Some songwriters use the word 'hookline'. Should that be mentioned? Maybe it tends to be used when thay are specifically meaning the 'phrase' rather than the musical aspect. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.101.66.30 (talk) 07:19, 6 November 2010 (UTC)

Removed: Beethoven's Fifth

• For example, the "hook" of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony could be said to consist in the distinctive three G notes followed by an E-flat.

I removed the above as it is a motif. Hyacinth (talk) 06:59, 11 March 2012 (UTC)

Removed: Examples

Phrase as hook:

• Black Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow<ref name="yahoo">http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090504195350AARuMnR</ref>
• Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby<ref name="yahoo"/>
• Fun. - We Are Young
• Lady GaGa - Poker Face
• Britney Spears - ...Baby One More Time
• Nicki Minaj - Super Bass

Tune as hook:

• MGMT - Kids
• MIA - Paper Planes

I removed the above as uncited. Hyacinth (talk) 21:52, 21 April 2012 (UTC)

Misplaced comment

I was a staff writer when I was twenty years old,I am now sixty eight. A "Hook" is generally the chorus of a song. What you say may be all well and good,but ask any composer what a hook is and they will say the chorus of a song,i.e. the title of any song with a lyric. It repeats more often than any lyric in a given song. Indeed,you may also have a passage played on an instrument that could be a hook,but for the most part "Hook and Chorus" are synonymous. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 107.223.8.188 (talk) 22:05, 19 August 2014 (UTC)

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