{"id":51,"date":"2025-01-28T17:19:53","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T17:19:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tomeetyourecords.com\/site\/2025\/01\/28\/earworm-how-to-write-hooks-that-get-stuck-in-your-head\/"},"modified":"2025-01-28T17:19:53","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T17:19:53","slug":"earworm-how-to-write-hooks-that-get-stuck-in-your-head","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tomeetyourecords.com\/site\/2025\/01\/28\/earworm-how-to-write-hooks-that-get-stuck-in-your-head\/","title":{"rendered":"Earworm: How to Write Hooks That Get Stuck in Your Head"},"content":{"rendered":"
I\u2019m talking about the dreaded earworm. These are the irresistible melodies and musical figures that you can\u2019t help but hum under your breath.\n\nBut what is an earworm hook exactly? How do they work and how can you write one?\n\nIn this article I\u2019ll explain what an earworm is and six strategies to create your own.\n\nLet\u2019s get started.\n\n<\/h5>

What is a hook?<\/h5>\n

A hook is a snippet of musical material that catches a listener\u2019s attention and sticks in their memory after the song is over.\n\nIn popular music, the hook comes most often from the vocal melody. But hooks can appear in any musical shape or form.\n\nA rhythm, a bassline, a chord progression or even a sample can be a hook in modern music.<\/h5>

Earworm hooks<\/h5>\n

An earworm is a slang term for the type of hook that seems to work its way deep into your brain and put down roots.\n\nStrictly speaking, an earworm is a psychological phenomenon where a musical figure persists in the mind long after the listening experience is over. <\/h5>\n
An earworm is a psychological phenomenon where a musical figure persists in the mind long after the listening experience is over.\nIt\u2019s a common occurrence that\u2019s mostly harmless, but it can still cause frustration in severe cases. <\/h5>\n
Some listeners complain that earworm hooks are distracting and unwelcome, but most songwriters would be happy to write something with such a powerful effect.\n\nIn fact, writing hooks is a central part of a songwriter\u2019s craft\u2014especially for topliners and professional songwriters.<\/h5>

What makes a hook catchy?<\/h5>\n

Catchiness might be impossible to define.\n\nIf creating catchy hooks were a repeatable formula, it wouldn\u2019t be hard to crack the top of the charts!\n\nOne reason why is because so many hooks arise from a process of trial and error. With a little luck and experimentation, a great hook might just land in your lap.\n\n<\/h5>

Repetitions<\/h5>\n

Using a unique Steinway Model D fitted with MIDI integration, SonicCouture was able to capture incredibly precise dynamics by sending exact velocities per note\u2014not something a human player could easily accomplish.<\/h5>

Melodic structure<\/h5>\n

Using a unique Steinway Model D fitted with MIDI integration, SonicCouture was able to capture incredibly precise dynamics by sending exact velocities per note\u2014not something a human player could easily accomplish.<\/h5>

Rhythmic patterns<\/h5>\n

Using a unique Steinway Model D fitted with MIDI integration, SonicCouture was able to capture incredibly precise dynamics by sending exact velocities per note\u2014not something a human player could easily accomplish.<\/h5>

Lyrics<\/h5>\n

Using a unique Steinway Model D fitted with MIDI integration, SonicCouture was able to capture incredibly precise dynamics by sending exact velocities per note\u2014not something a human player could easily accomplish.<\/h5>

Basslines<\/h5>\n

Using a unique Steinway Model D fitted with MIDI integration, SonicCouture was able to capture incredibly precise dynamics by sending exact velocities per note\u2014not something a human player could easily accomplish.<\/h5>

Production elements<\/h5>\n

Using a unique Steinway Model D fitted with MIDI integration, SonicCouture was able to capture incredibly precise dynamics by sending exact velocities per note\u2014not something a human player could easily accomplish.<\/h5>

Stuck in the Head<\/h5>\n

Using a unique Steinway Model D fitted with MIDI integration, SonicCouture was able to capture incredibly precise dynamics by sending exact velocities per note\u2014not something a human player could easily accomplish.<\/h5>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Everyone knows the feeling of having a song stuck in your head. Once it starts it can be hard to make it go away.<\/p>\n

But the ultra-catchy tunes that stay lodged in your brain for hours are different.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m talking about the dreaded earworm. These are the irresistible melodies and musical figures that you can\u2019t help but hum under your breath.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_siteseo_robots_primary_cat":"","pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,18,20],"tags":[27,30,32],"class_list":["post-51","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-audio","category-catchy","category-music","tag-addictive","tag-hooks","tag-latest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomeetyourecords.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomeetyourecords.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomeetyourecords.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomeetyourecords.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomeetyourecords.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tomeetyourecords.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomeetyourecords.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomeetyourecords.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomeetyourecords.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomeetyourecords.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}