How to create great melodic and lyrical hooks

Hey everyone! So today, I’m going to share with you all how to write strong hooks that resonate with your audience. 

Let’s get into it.

The melody and rhythm

So in this instance, I’m not going to discuss rhythmic hooks, I’m just going to be talking about melodic hooks and lyrical hooks. 

The reason for that is because though rhythmic hooks are powerful and i highly suggest that you use them, the type of hooks that I’m referring to are the ones for melodies and lines of lyrics.

So let’s get into it. 

Melodic hooks

So the first thing that you should be doing is creating melodic hooks. 

And there are really a few ways that you could do it and endless combinations of ways to make your hooks.

Let’s talk some basics. 

There are a couple of melodic structures that you should be aware of. 

The first structure is static melodies. 

So basically a melody that plays c-c-c-c-c-c

there is also a jagged melody c-b-c-b-c-b

Notice how the notes in a jagged melody bounce back and forth between two notes. 

Then you have ascending melodies.

C-D-E

and Descending Melodies

E-D-C

Now those are some basics. 

But there are endless combinations of ways to do these melodies. 

In an ascending pattern, I don’t just have to do C-D-E

I could do C-E-G

Going up in thirds

or I could do C4-C5-D Notice that octave jump. 

And you could go up to whatever note you want, you’re not just limited to the patterns i mentioned right here. 

Also with this ascending pattern, I haven’t mentioned how long I’m holding each note for. 

So I could do C whole note E half note and G whole note. Which would make a very different sounding melody than if it were to just be straight 8th notes. 

So you see how this pattern though simple has already been expanded into an endless amount of combinations just by doing 2 simple things. 

Imagine if you were to add the rest of the things in music to these melodies. 

Imagine if you were to repeat the notes but still follow the ascending pattern, 

and so on and so forth. 

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s make some good strong melodic hooks. 

The rule of thumb when making a strong melodic hook is to combine the different melody structures with each other. 

So a jagged melody with an ascending melody

I.E. C-B-C-B-C-D-E

Pro tip, try and combine at least 2 melody structures together to make a strong hook and aim for no more than 3 or 4 melody structures with 3 being your most powerful types of hooks. 

And that’s the big secret with melodic hooks. 

Now there are some cheat sheets you can do in order to make a good song. 

One make your melodies three notes long. 

It could be one note, 2 notes, but no more than 3. Three is the sweet spot for making a strong hook

Now you might say that, “German, that’s debatable. No one can really know what is the ideal sweet spot for a great hook because music is opinion based. What one person might think is good another person might think is bad.”

This is a good point to point out, but Many songwriters in the music industry all agree that the three note hook is the superior hook to write with. 

So, there’s that. 

Lyrical hooks

Lyrical hooks are hooks that involve the lyrics. 

what are the lyrics you might ask?

The lyrics are the words that you say in the song. 

You might be saying to yourself, “But German isn’t that the same thing as the melodic hooks??” 

Isn’t that the melodic hooks that you so famously talked about?

I’m glad you asked

Though similar, it’s not the same thing. 

The lyrics can sing the melody but the melody doesn’t always do the lyrics. 

Imagine that parody song.

It has the same melody as the origninal song but different lyrics. 

:lyrics are the words, melody is the notes in the music. 

Anyways, lyrical hooks are hooks that have impact with the words that you choose to write with. 

At it’s simplest that’s what it is. 

Now how do you make the most powerful hooks you have ever heard?

listen to my words songwriter and write the best songs you have ever heard in your entire life.

combine melodic hooks with lyrical hooks. 

this is by far the best way to make great hooks. For the top line. 

Pair that with the I-V-vi-IV chord progression, and you are a rockstar. 

Watch out Justin Bieber cause my students are coming after you. 

Broadcast

I sure hope that I have been an inspiration and a hope to you all. Please remember to pray, read your bible, go to church, and love God above all else. Like, comment, share, subscribe, and I will see you all next time. 

If you want to go to heaven, then believe in Jesus and you will go to heaven. (John 3:16)

Thank you all for listening in on this blog post. 

German Gonzalez, signing out!