What's your definition of "hook"?

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Prefix "pop-" to "hook" if necessary.

― armf, Saturday, 2 November 2002 12:55 (twenty-two years ago)

matt of coldcut: "a stupid noise that grabs yr head"

(my guess = stupid not in a judgmental sense, there)

― mark s (mark s), Saturday, 2 November 2002 14:44 (twenty-two years ago)

the aural equivalent of chewing gum i.e. something that will stick to your brain with great tenacity even after the experience has gone, the same way chewing gum sticks to your hair/shoe/whatever after the chewing experience is over.

Or, erm, something.

― kate, Saturday, 2 November 2002 14:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Cheap Trick and Journey.

― jel -- (jel), Saturday, 2 November 2002 16:42 (twenty-two years ago)

something that gets your attention...a phrase or an unexpected high note or wrinkle in the rhythm, that gets repeated enough for you to anticipate it.

― Al (sitcom), Saturday, 2 November 2002 16:46 (twenty-two years ago)

a phrase catchy enough to grab your attention even if there is little substance to it.

― webcrack (music=crack), Sunday, 3 November 2002 02:43 (twenty-two years ago)

five months pass...

A musical, vocal, or other type of short phrase repeated frequently throughout a song. The part of a song that jumps out at you, that you remember the song by. The best all-time example is the beginning guitar of Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love." A.K.A "Riff."

― Klaus Muller, Saturday, 19 April 2003 18:42 (twenty-two years ago)

I wouldn't say it needs to be repeated frequently. For instance, the sirens in Sweet's "Blockbuster" was definitely an important hook, even though they didn't last for more than the very start of the record. They immediately grabbed the listeners' attention, which is the main point of a hook anyway.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Saturday, 19 April 2003 21:38 (twenty-two years ago)

The Hook
http://www.delafont.com/music_acts/Music_Images/jl-hooker.jpg

― rex jr., Saturday, 19 April 2003 22:54 (twenty-two years ago)

I think "hook" has an almost literal meaning. It gets under your skin and pulls you back to the song again and again. Sometimes it's even painful.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Saturday, 19 April 2003 22:56 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.peterpanfan.com/images/pp7.jpg

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 20 April 2003 12:59 (twenty-two years ago)

four years pass...

What the hell does any of this even mean?

Wikipedia is even scarier!!!

Seriously, can somebody give me a better definition? You hear this word invoked almost constantly, yet nobody can define it. It's like the "warmth" of music marketing.

― sleeve, Thursday, 20 March 2008 03:46 (seventeen years ago)

my use of it follows this exactly:

The part of a song that jumps out at you, that you remember the song by.

― electricsound, Thursday, 20 March 2008 03:49 (seventeen years ago)

peterhook.jpg

― S-, Thursday, 20 March 2008 04:04 (seventeen years ago)

xpost so I can agree with that definition, it frees it up so that it can refer to anything... a lyric, a drum fill, a bass note, etc.

but what makes it memorable? simplicity? or something more?

I have a feeling there is probably something about this in that Musicophilia book I am trying (and failing) to read.

― sleeve, Thursday, 20 March 2008 04:26 (seventeen years ago)

i don't think you can clearly define (in a general sense anyway) what makes a hook memorable

― electricsound, Thursday, 20 March 2008 04:34 (seventeen years ago)

I've used the phrase "bubblegum hook" three times in review/features over the past four or five months. I'm not proud.

― Tape Store, Thursday, 20 March 2008 04:39 (seventeen years ago)

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