WRITING A GREAT HOOK

When I first started performing my brother would tell me all it takes is one song to change the rest of your life.  You hear about artist all the time being one hit away.  That’s one hit away from changing your life forever.

Having a hit record will do wonders for your career.  Literally things can change over night for you.  That being said it makes sense that we understand what makes a hit record.  Nine times out of Ten its going to be the hook that makes a record a hit.

The hook is everything to your song.  In most cases the hook will determine 80% in the success of the record.

The Most Memorable Part Of The Song

The hook is the most memorable and touching part of the song.  A great song needs a strong hook to be marketable.  It also makes the song memorable.

Basic Approach When Writing The Song

Start your song by figuring out the hook first and then follow with the verse.  Having the hook done first will make it easy to tailor your verse around the hook.  The hook compliments the beat and the verse should compliment the hook, this makes the elements to a great record.

The 80/20 Rule (Pareto Principle)

There is a rule that we use in business called the 80/20 rule, which states 20% of the work you do will result in 80% of your sales.  This same rule can be applied to hook writing, and that is the hook only makes up for 20% of the parts in a song but is responsible for 80% of the results.

That’s a pretty simple rule.  Spend more time writing your hooks, it can be daunting at times as well as rushed but focus more on making incredible hooks, take a little longer than usual and see what that does for you.

Hook Writing Exercise

Here is a exercise that you can try the next time your writing a hook and searching for inspiration.  Try this exercise to help with creating a great hook.  You don’t need a beat or music for that matter, simply write your hook by humming the cadence you desire.

Use your imagination but also be happy with your melody.  Make sure you memorize the melody (Using a personal recorder for this is great) and write to the melody or you can come back to it later and replace the humming with words.

Well I hope this helps in your quest to creating better hooks.

Until next time.

 

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Jamaal West is the author of The Official How To Rap Manual.  He has over 15 years experience helping others improve rap skill and rhyming ability.  Inventor of the How2rap Point-System & The Understanding Bars Tutorial his techniques on teaching others to rap have been regarded as one of the best of its kind since the year 2000.
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