#oh and jazz rap and country are 3 of my other favorite genres people are all surprised

[anotherpapercut]

last week I was talking to my partners sister in law about music and I mentioned that I love hip hop and rap especially from the 80s and 90s and one of his sisters was like "I would NOT have thought you liked rap" and I can't stop thinking about it. what part of my vibe says I don't like rap and how do I fix it

[okabudge]

List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 10 people who liked or reblogged something from you! Get to know your mutuals and followers ⭐️

Oh wow it’s only been since March although this ask has been rattling around in my brain ever since. Sorry for taking so long ;w;

1) Talking to internet strangers and acquaintances! Really, just socializing in general, but I’m a lot bolder online. It’s nice to see so many perspectives and experiences unlike my own.

2) Birds! Huge surprise, the bird guy is currently giggling and kicking his feet over birds. But honestly, how can you not love them? They’re so shaped.

3) Whump fics. Huge guilty pleasure, but I love indulging in some gratuitous fictional violence. Not that I think anything in whump is okay irl- but fiction is so neat for exploring otherwise morally dubious scenarios. Idk it’s been rattling around in my head lately and deserves a spot on the list currently.

4) Music. Basic answer, but ohhh my godddd. Music is so good. Literally every genre, even country and rap and noise. My favorite is definitely jazz, but I really love anything with a good groove. Lately I’ve been dipping my toes a little further into some composers I’ve only listened to lightly, as well as some artists I haven’t really paid much attention to previously.

5) Me. Vain? A little bit. But I dyed my hair pink and painted my nails black and I feel hot as shit. I like that my body lets me make stupid stances at my friends and my feet take me to my mailbox and all my favorite cafes and shops. My tummy is very soft and my heart is full of love. I like how my voice has deepened on T. I like my little dirt mustache and happy trail. I love the extra weight I’ve put on ever since I stopped caring about trying to be attractive. I like my scratchy singing voice, and my imagination, and my mediocre drawing skills. I love that my body tries its best for me even when I run it ragged and need to lay in bed for a few days to recover.

Thank you so much again for the ask! Sorry it took so long to respond. I’ll have to get around to sending this to other folks, but I’m not sure there’s even 10 whole people who interact with me.

[britneyshakespeare]

i was tagged a few days ago by @real-pain-for-my-sham-friends to do my top 10 favorite album covers, and i’m finally gettin’ around to doin it now. here we go.

(these aren’t really in any order by the way)

1. Blondie’s Autoamerican (1980)

Blondie’s not a band I’ve ever been sure about my favorite album by. Parallel Lines (1978) is easily their most iconic, and I think it deserves to be because it has some of the best singles of their career. But I think Eat to the Beat (1979) has some of their best punk rock songs, and Blondie (1976) flows the best together as one consolidated piece of work. But Autoamerican is easily their most glamorous, stylized album. It was Blondie’s entrance to the 1980s, seemingly already aware of what the zeitgeist of that decade would be. It meshes the nostalgia for the jazzier early 20th century nostalgia that pervaded the decade with songs like “Here’s Looking At You” and manages to be utterly modern with the unparalleled hit single off the album, “Rapture” which infuses elements of jazz, disco, hip hop, and ska, and also managed to be the first music video featuring a rap to make it to MTV. And I really feel like the album cover really is as 1980s in aesthetic as the rest of the album. It, I think, is Blondie’s most well-representative album cover.

2. Britney Spears’ Circus (2008)

I love Radar (2007) as much as everyone else, and think it gets the credit it’s due by fans and critics alike, but I’ve always preferred Circus. I think of it like the Kill Bill vol. 2 of Britney albums. Part one being Radar was epic and action-packed in terms of aesthetic, promotion, and Britney’s unfortunately unraveling personal life at the time of release. But part two is easily just as good and there’s a lot that’s unique about it that doesn’t always get pointed out. I feel like the songs on Circus, singles and non-single tracks alike, have more word play, are catchier, and they stay with, well, at least me, in a different way than Radar. I also love the aesthetic of the promotions and performances of the era, I feel like the theme of it is such a defining piece of culture from the late 2000s.

3. The Beatles’ The Beatles (1968)

If I’ve ever talked to you about the Beatles, you probably know that this is my favorite album of theirs, and probably always has been. It was the one I loved and listened to the most as a kid, as much as a lot of qualities that made the Beatles as great as they were went over my head. For that, I’ll always have that sentimental attachment to it the most. In retrospect, I don’t think it’s as great as Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) or Abbey Road (1969), and a lot has been said about why those albums are the near-perfect masterpieces that they’re generally considered to be. I don’t need to say my part on that, my opinion on those albums are well-represented. But I feel like my opinion on the White Album just isn’t. Not many people hate this album per se, but it gets a lot of criticism for not being easily the least clear-cut and concise album. But, ya see, that’s the thing I just love about it. The White Album goes from parody (”Back in the USSR”), to ska (”Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da”), to music hall (”Martha My Dear”), to jazz (”Honey Pie”), to heavy metal (”Helter Skelter”), to blues rock (”Revolution 1″), to avant-garde (”Revolution 9″), to country (”Rocky Raccoon”), to whatever the hell proto-Queen-esque genre you would consider “Happiness is a Warm Gun” to be. And no, obviously not every song on this album is not equal in quality. But what it demonstrates to me is just how versatile the Beatles had the ability to be. In that respect, I still don’t think they’ve been matched by any other band since or before them. Given, after they stopped touring in 1966, they had a lot more creative freedom by not having to worry about being able to perform a song live (which is also part of the reason why Sgt. Pepper’s and Abbey Road could be so cutting edge), which isn’t a privilege that many groups share. The White Album really is just the Beatles being the Beatles. The album cover goes the right way in not representing an image other than the name of the band. It’s the Beatles doing what they do best. You’ll get what you come for.

4. Panic! at the Disco’s A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out (2005)

Let me just start off by saying Panic! at the Disco is easily one of if not my favorite band to debut in the twenty-first century so far. And one of their skills that remarkably hasn’t gone away even with the changes the band has gone through in terms of member line up and musical style is that they always know how to fill a fuckin’ album. Fever is probably tied with Pretty. Odd. (2008) as my favorite album by them (it really depends on the day, I go back and forth between them, they’re both remarkable in completely different ways), simply just because it’s 2017 and I’m still not over Ryan Ross. This album in particular is just one-of-a-kind, no matter how many bands Panic! has been compared to since their very beginning. I listened to this album in full for the first time when I was 13 or 14 years old and was just astounded because I hadn’t heard anything like it. I was deep into pop-punk at the time and more than any other band I think Panic! helped me get out of that by being so different and much artsier and more interesting than any other band that could be called pop-punk. And it still blows my mind that this album was put together by just a few kids who recently graduated high school. The lyrics, imagery, and themes are so mature and unique, with a good mix of Ross’ personal life and pure ingenuity in every piece. And immediately the band was so stylized, which they still manage today. Just, the way the album seemlessly switches from techno-dance-influenced rock to orchestral, theatrical songs still amazes me. And I think the abstract, unforgettable artwork on the album cover represents the lyrics, music, and style of Panic! at the time very, very well.

5. Led Zeppelin’s Untitled (often referred to as Led Zeppelin IV) (1971)

Boy, do I love me some Zeppelin. IV is actually, in my unpopular opinion, not the best Led Zeppelin album, but a very close and honorable second to Houses of the Holy (1973), and I get it. I get why everyone thinks this is their best album. It’s not just because “Stairway to Heaven” is in its track-listing, although, let’s not act like that’s not one of the most iconic rock songs of the last 50 years for good reason. IV as a novel would read like epic poetry. Frontman and songwriter Robert Plant and the rest of the band took a lot of creative influence in their music from author J. R. R. Tolkien and it shows even if you’re not familiar with Tolkien’s work firsthand but only from pop culture references to Lord of the Rings. The destitute country man on the cover just looks like a character out of one of Tolkien’s novels. The characters described in the songs on this album, which flows naturally from hard rock, folk, and heavy metal, give you great mental pictures of what Plant had in mind when he would work as a songwriter, and this album definitely was when he proved he wasn’t just a pretty boy fronting a band with three of the best instrumentalists in rock and roll then, and ever. Led Zeppelin was always a powerhouse from the year they formed and debuted, and guitarist Jimmy Page and bassist John Paul Jones were well-respected studio musicians, and John Bonham broke down barriers of conventional percussion in rock and roll by taking influence from many early twentieth century jazz drummers. But as a band, their fourth album is where it felt like they finally all fit together perfectly like pieces of a puzzle. The promotional artwork represents the themes of the album quite well.

6. Fall Out Boy’s Save Rock and Roll (2013)

First things first: Fall Out Boy is probably never, ever gonna top how this album made me feel when it first came out. Their comeback is the kind of lightning-in-a-bottle miracle that doesn’t happen to a band twice. Though my favorite album by them has always been Folie a Deux (2008), and this album didn’t change that, I just lost my 14-year-old shit when “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark” came out. One of my favorite bands was back. It was a awe-inspiring, so many people honestly thought we would never hear from them again, myself included. I still get goosebumps whenever I listen to “Save Rock and Roll” feat. Elton John and it gets to the part: “Oh, no, we won’t go, ‘cause we don’t know when to quit.” But, personal experiences and embarrassing fangirling aside, this album is still worth the recognition it got when it came out. And I remember when Pete Wentz first leaked this album cover and explained it as non-conformity vs. tradition standing side-by-side. It’s an image that stays with you. And even though strictly speaking this isn’t even Fall Out Boy’s most pure rock album, I still remember the day when they leaked all their own songs a week before it was put on sale, and watching them, they’d put homages to their influences in the eyes of the skeleton on the promotional artwork:

and it reminded me a lot of the faces on the Sgt. Pepper’s cover that I purposely didn’t talk about earlier... But it was just. It was so fucking cool. They worked with Elton John. Okay. Wow. This is my least eloquent explanation because uhhhm like I said I lost all my shit when this album was released and haven’t gotten it back in these four and a half years since and can’t take the time to separate my smart-ha-I’m-so-intellectual raving commentary from my deep, emotional attachment to Fall Out Boy, okay? Forgive me.

7. Get Set Go’s So You’ve Ruined Your Life (2003)

Get Set Go is one of my favorite tragically-underrated bands. If you like indie rock with upbeat music and lyrics about clinical depression, they’re the new band for you. So You’ve Ruined Your Life is their first album, and I think the title of the album sums up Get Set Go’s outlook on the world. Most of their songs are pessimistic, with very cynical, blunt lyrics. Their main songwriter (and only remaining member) Mike TV explores themes of the inevitability of death and sexual frustration... a lot. On pretty much every album of theirs, actually. Dude should probably be seeing a therapist but that’s beside the point. The artwork on the cover of this album is very, very early 2000s and has a certain charm to it. Thinking about it, it actually reminds me of the aesthetic of Gorillaz, appropriately. But it fits the feel of the punk-influenced songs on this album which very much belong to the year it came out. They’ve branched out a lot artistically since 2003 but of all their album covers, I think this is probably my favorite for the images it invokes in my mind when I listen to it. It gives the songs characters and a setting, and a color scheme like a movie set to music.

8. Marianne Faithfull’s Broken English (1979)

I’m only very recently getting into Marianne Faithfull’s music, so I haven’t listened to this album as much as I have the other ones on this list, but she’s just becoming a new favorite figure of mine so quickly that I can’t not talk about this to the extent that I feel like I know. Faithfull got her start in the early-mid 1960′s as one of the leading female acts during the British Invasion. By 1966 she was in a very public relationship with Mick Jagger and had an influence on some of the Rolling Stones’ early music. She had a beautiful, bird-like, airy soprano voice. But in the 1970s her personal life nearly collapsed. She was struggling with alcoholism, heroin addiction, and anorexia nervosa, living on the streets of London. She was starting to pull herself back together by the time she made this album (though those problems were still present after its release, they didn’t just magically poof away), but the voice that she had when she was just a teenager wasn’t there anymore. Years of drug use and consistent cigarette-smoking caught up with her voice and she wasn’t able to sing in the same high register that made her famous. It was rougher, deeper, and what some critics would refer to as “whisky-soaked”. And unlike the mostly acoustic, folk and blues-inspired work that she was doing in the 60s, Broken English was very much an exceptional new wave album, with obvious punk roots. I listened to “Why D’ya Do It” for the first time and thought one thing to myself: The Clash. And what I love about the album cover is it’s different from the much softer pictures on her earlier albums, which were also mostly of her. By sticking to the personality cover formula but making a dim-lit, gritty image of her just says: “This isn’t the little girl who dated Mick Jagger. This is a woman who’s been through hell and back. This is a changed Marianne Faithfull.” And I love how she was forced to reinvent herself out of necessity, and she managed to be maybe even more exceptional than she was before.

9. No Doubt’s Tragic Kingdom (1995)

I just love this album. It’s No Doubt’s definitive album with good reason. I prefer Return of Saturn (2000) just slightly, but just like Led Zeppelin IV I really have no qualms with this being their biggest. I love everything about it. Hard punk tracks like “Excuse Me Mr.” and the Queen-esque “The Climb” and the absolutely unforgettable “Just a Girl” and of course, “Don’t Speak”, easily their most well-known song. There are so many different vibes from song to song but it manages to feel so densely-packed into what definitely feels like one solid album with no filler. And the album cover is just delightfully strange. I love seeing Gwen standing up front with those ridiculous Ronald McDonald shoes. The dead vegetation surrounding the band in the center of the picture. It and of course Gwen’s Wonder Woman-like power stance like it’s just absolutely glorious. It’s a piece of art in itself that the album, if it had been nameless, would just scream to be called something like “Tragic Kingdom”. And it fits the vibe of No Doubt’s ska-punk being at its peak on this album.

10. Bob Dylan’s The Times They Are A-Changin’ (1964)

Ah, yes, Bob Dylan. Every high school English teacher’s favorite singer. I’m also a more recent Dylan fan (not as recent as Faithfull but considering how much there is of his still-continuing discography, there’s a great amount of his work I’m still yet to listen to). I didn’t start listening to him until this year actually. This was the first album of his I chose to listen to in full, in part because I was familiar with the title track. I really dig the album cover because of how present-to-its-time it was. The newspaper typeface being emulated works as a good visual for the very 1964 poetry Dylan includes on the tracks. And let’s not get confused: Dylan’s a poet first and foremost, and then a musician. He’s not the giant he is for his music but for his contemporary prose he delivers in his songs. It’s why Chuck Berry, great as he was, wasn’t rewarded the Nobel Poetry Prize, but Dylan was. And this is, I think, the most irreplaceable album cover in his discography. A vital visual for him in his early career, definitely.

Oh boy, I didn’t mean to ramble on as much as I did in this. I tag @lovelyeojin, @feeblepeony, @adzbrandmusic, @whatsol, @alfrdopacino, @fucknfurter and @jisoox. You guys totally don’t have to go as in-depth as I did here laskdjfalsidf I just like being a music dork I’m really an album person at heart.

[lady-nevermore]

Tag you’re it! ^_^

Umm.....I’m pretty sure I’ve already done this survey/questionnaire before; ah well, I’ll try to make my answers vary a bit from last time, but I’m pretty sure that I’ll probably just copy and paste my answers from the last one (feeling sorta lazy atm, sorry). lol ^^;

But anyways, yeah, I don’t mind doing this a second time around, they’re actually pretty damn fun, so let’s get started! :D

Rules: Answer these questions, and tag 20 amazing followers that you would like to get to know better.

Tagged by: @blueteamproblem​ (Cool - Thanks for the Tag). ^_^

Name: *sigh* I’m hesitant/reluctant when it comes to revealing my name, cuz I’m paranoid/anxious, that people I knew from my past will end up finding me again......and tbh, I’m not quite ready for that reunion/confrontation just yet.....But here’s a hint: (My name means Soul in Spanish). ^-^

Nickname: Ama (by my dad, my little cousins, and one of my fave Aunties), hmmm....A few of my old-friends back in my high school days used to refer to me as: “Almy, Almita, Soulzzz, etc”. Do these count? lol ^^;

Zodiac sign: Leo (Western Zodiac) and Sheep/Ram (Chinese Zodiac).

Hogwarts House: When Pottermore first started becoming a “thing” around 2010-2011 (I remember cuz I was one of the beta-testers), I was sorted and placed in Slytherin. .....But I believe that, that was due to the fact that I was in a really really really depressed, bitter and dark place at the time (those who have read my first entry of my “therapy blog”, and will end up reading more in greater detail later down the line, will know why); but as of right now: I’m happy to say that I’m a Proud Pottermore Ravenclaw. ^_^

Height: 5′3” (yeah, I know i’m pretty smol). heh ^^;

Orientation: Bisexual (I know that I’m attracted to women at the very least, as well as men....but it’s sorta on a 70/30 sometimes 60/40 on the spectrum/scale), but as of late, I feel like I could also very possibly be ace, maybe even possibly demisexual (Let’s just say that It’s safe to say I’m still questioning/trying to figure myself out, and leave it at that). ^^;

Ethnicity: Hispanic/Mexican-American

Favorite fruit: Cantaloupe, Gala/Fuji Apples, Granny Smith Green Apples, Mango, Strawberries, etc. 

Favorite season: Fall/Autumn and Winter Seasons 

Favorite book series: The Harry Potter Series The Inheritance Cycle / Eragon Book Series The Unexpected Dragon by Mary Brown The Hobbit/ Lord of the Rings The Hunger Games Trilogy The Giver Book Series The Time Traveler's Wife Shakespeare Edgar Allen Poe Grimm Fairy Tales 

Manga wise: Rurouni Kenshin by Nobuhiro Watsuki His and Her Circumstances aka Kare Kano Yu Yu Hakusho, Hunter x Hunter, Level E, and Ookami nante Kowakunai all by my all-time fave mangaka (infamous for his long-ass Hiatuses, but damn it I still think they're worth it): Yoshihiro Togashi.

Favorite fictional characters:  Waaaaay too many for me to list here, but currently as of right now, as I’m sure some of you may have noticed, I’m crushing/fangirling rather hard over Soi Fon at the moment. lol xD

Favorite flower: I love most flowers (like for example: a classic single stem Rose) but I do have a soft spot for Small flowers, like: Morning Glories and White Clovers.

Favorite scents: Petrichor aka the smell of the earth/soil after it rains, though the smell of coffee, the smoky scent of firewood during a cold night, the crisp cold scent of an early morning/early evening/late night, the smell of freshly mowed or cut grass, the fresh smell of laundry, and the scent of sandalwood are all pretty damn nice too. ^_^

Favorite color:  Purple, Lavender, Orchid Purple, Wine Red/Red-Violet, Magenta, Sapphire Blue, Cerulean Blue, Light Blue, Red, Maroon, Teal, Emerald Green, Turquoise Green, Seafoam green, Gray, Black, Silver, Gold, Neon Colors, basically any type of bright / vibrant colors, though pastels colors are pretty nice too....I find most hues/shades of colors beautiful in their own right.....So let’s just say everything! lol ^^;

Favorite animal:  I’m real fond of the whole Trickster-archetype when it comes to animals, so it’s safe to say that I really do have a soft spot for Corvids (Crows and Ravens), and Foxes; though I also really like Wolves, and Owls. But above all else, I really really really fucking love felines/cats (big and small); ie Grey Tabby Cats, Maine Coons, Norwegian Forest Cats, Lions, Leopards, Jaguars, but especially Snow Leopards! =^.^=

Favorite artist/band:  

 Musical Scores:

- John Williams's Scores in the Harry Potter Films - Murray Gold's Scores in Doctor Who - Trevor Jones's Scores in The 1998 Merlin/Merlin's Apprentice mini series (aka the one with Sam Neill). - ATLA/Legend of Korra Scores by Jeremy Zuckerman - Pirates of the Caribbean Scores by Hans Zimmer - The Anime Scores in both Rurouni Kenshin and in Yu Yu Hakusho respectively. - Oh! And the anything by Jeff and Casey Lee Williams (like the RWBY and RVB OST for example) Oh! and the Scores in Harvest Moon and Legend of Zelda Soundtrack (Song of Storms anyone?). ^_^  And probably several other scores in anime and videogames that I just can't recall at the moment. But music-wise: Just like with anime, books, and tv-shows I tend to be a pretty open-minded and am into several types of genres (from J-pop/J-rock/anime theme and ending songs, anything by Megumi Ogata, punk rock, alternative rock, 80's and 90's pop/rock music, electronic, pop, hip-hop, r&b, jazz, anime jazz covers, classical music, modern classical music with a modern twist aka pop/rock covers via a classical musical sense, scores in anime and in some of my fave nerdy fandoms, basically anything and everything even country....all except for like "pure rap or purely screamo heavy metal".... like, I don't mind if there's a little bit in like r&b/pop or rock respectfully, but yeah, just no). ^^; My Fave bands/musicians: - Green Day - Death Cab For Cutie - Daft Punk - Owl City - Etc.

Coffee, tea, or hot cocoa?: Tea; I used to be quite the coffee drinker, but not anymore mostly due to my anxiety (trust me I still really miss it, especially the taste & the smell of coffee.....Hmmm, I’ve been thinking that maybe I should try decaf), but anyways, yeah, over the years I’ve stuck and grew to really love tea....tho cocoa is nice every once in awhile (especially during the colder seasons). ^^;

Average sleep hours: *sigh* I have insomnia, so my sleep cycle is pretty much wack and all over the place; I’m lucky if I get 5-6 hours of sleep. -___-;

Number of blankets you sleep with: As of right now: one; I really really really hate humid/warm/hot weather....makes it soo damn uncomfortable to get a good night’s sleep (but that’s what I get for living in California, I suppose). ugh. >_<;

Dream trip: Japan would be pretty cool! ^_^

Last thing Googled: Butterflies and their symbolism with souls/afterlife.

Blog created: Since 2011

How many blogs do I follow: Dunno, I never really checked. o.o

Number of followers: 697

What do I usually post about: Usually, I tend to just reblog a lot of fan art, gif edits, or posts pertaining to some of my fave fandoms; right now it’s: Bleach (Soi Fon), RWBY, Yu Yu Hakusho, etc. But I will be posting about my therapy sessions in my “therapy blog” in the future, so look out for that I guess. ^^;

Do you get asks regularly: Not a whole lot, but when I do, they never fail to make me smile. :)

What is your aesthetic: Damned if I know...Um, 90′s aesthetic? idk! lol ^^;

Tagging (don’t feel obligated to do this if you don’t want to): @angelotics , @theamazingflyinglion , @tdk-blog, @doctordearie , @youko-fairy , @nightjasmine10 , @luckystarchild , @tifa-the-bacon-goddess , @boserwulf , @ravenhull , @fionaandcake27 , @hirusekidragon , @weissrose , @rwby-fan , @yangsmash , @bizarrolord , @blue-eyed-korra , @hellfire47 , @yyhlove , @yyhaesthetics

[jessicakmatt]

What is a Hook in a Song? 6 Ideas for Catchier Song Hooks

What is a Hook in a Song? 6 Ideas for Catchier Song Hooks: via LANDR Blog

Ever find yourself humming a song you heard years ago in the shower? That song probably has a really catchy hook.

Writing hooks into your music is important.

Your audience is listening for one, and if they don’t hear something they can latch onto they won’t remember your track.

But how do you write something catchy? It takes skill and creativity to write a memorable vocal line or instrumental melody.

In this article, we’ll look at how hooks work in music, concepts to keep in mind when writing them, and ideas to bring your creative identity into your hooks.

What is a hook in a song?

In music, a hook is the section of a track that’s designed to stand out from the rest of the song, be catchy, and ultimately capture the attention of a listener.

Hooks are useful in any genre but they are a major focus for songwriters in pop, rap, R&B, country, and rock.

How to write a catchy hook for song

The biggest thing to keep in mind when trying to write a hook is that it needs to be simple.

The biggest thing to keep in mind when trying to write a hook is that it needs to be simple.

Your goal should be to make your hook so memorable the audience can remember the lyrics and sing along to the melody.

If you find yourself humming the hook almost subconsciously you’re off to a good start.

Keep your hooks melodically simple

Your audience most likely won’t be able to remember a complicated modal jazz run!

Most hooks you hear on the radio don’t use more than three or four notes.

In fact, there’s plenty of examples of massively successful pop songs that used only two notes in the hook.

Limiting the number of notes you use, and keeping them close together in the scale of the key of your song makes your hook easy for the audience to sing along to.

That doesn’t mean the rest of your track can’t use interesting chords and melodies.

Just remember that if you want your track to have a catchy hook, it needs to be melodically simple so anyone can easily remember it and sing along.

Use relatable lyrics that mean something to everyone

If the whole goal of your hook is to make something people will sing to themselves in the shower, the lyrics must be memorable.

There’s plenty of ways to write memorable lyrics.

There’s plenty of ways to write memorable lyrics.

You’ll hear relatable statements about love, romance, or heartbreak in many hooks.

Other song hooks are humourous and might even use a punch line.

Many hooks are memorable because they use melodic syllables that even easier to sing than words, or they cleverly rhyme.

Some song hooks might even invent entirely new words or terms like Party Rocking or YOLO.

Think about basic human needs when writing your song hook.

The one thing about every famous hook is that it addresses something that most people can relate to.

Lyrics about our instinct to communicate, be loved, feel young, tap into spirituality, be afraid, be happy, celebrate holidays and life events, or be sad are time tested places to start.

Repeat the hook

Repeat it over and over.

Sure, your hook might be so good you only need the listener to hear it once for them to remember it.

Even so, your song should repeat its hook multiple times.

Your song should repeat its hook multiple times.

That’s because using repetition increases the chances of capturing someone’s attention.

And of course, if your hook really sounds that good your listeners will want to hear it repeated throughout the song.

Human ears crave repetition. It’s scientifically proven that our brains love hearing pleasing rhythms and notes repeated over and over.

It’s key for sticking your hook in a listener’s memory.

Hook vs chorus

Your hook is not necessarily the chorus

There’s even a common misconception that a song’s hook is always in the chorus.

And while many hooks do appear in the chorus, it’s not always the case.

A song’s hook can happen anywhere.

When you think about it, to capture a listener’s attention right away the hook should come sooner than later.

Some of the most famous hooks in history are the first thing you hear in the track. I’m looking at you Ice Ice Baby.

The other problem with relying on your chorus to be the hook is the chorus is often written to be a little bit too long to be a hook.

Usually, a hook is no more than a few measures long, no more than one or two sentences.

For good reasons your chorus should be a little bit longer, it’s meant to deliver the core meaning and be the crux of your track.

A chorus will often elaborate on the song’s hook, which is why many hooks are found in the chorus.

Sample and chop your hook

Today sampling and chopping is an important music production technique, so you’d better believe that it’s used on a lot of hooks in popular music.

There’s even entire websites devoted to offering royalty-free vocal hooks that you can take and chop into your own tracks.

When you have a hook ready for your track, play with it a little bit in your sampler.

Chop it up, reverse it, pitch it up and down, put effects on it! Just have fun and be creative.

So many producers use this technique on their hooks, and it makes sense.

Every time you put the chopped and screwed version of your hook into your track, you increase the chances of someone remembering it.

Every time you put the chopped and screwed version of your hook into your track, you increase the chances of someone remembering it.

Song hook ideas

There’s tons of inspiration and ideas out there for song hooks.

Taking notes from a few big-name artists I came up with this list of song hook ideas.

1. Combine genres

Combining genres in your song’s hook is a great way to capture the attention of multiple audiences.

One very recent example comes from Lil Nas X’s Old Town Road which was a massive hit in 2019.

The song did an excellent job of combining both country and hip hop into a singable hook that everyone could recognize instantly and sing along too.

Collaborating with country star Billy Ray Cyrus in later remixes didn’t hurt the track’s ability to cross audiences either.



2. Use an instrumental hook

Who says a hook has to be a vocal part?

Sometimes an instrumental section works to hook the audience in.

A great example could be Phil Collins’ bombastic drum fill in In I Can Feel It Coming in the Air Tonight.

Whenever you hear that drum part come in, you know exactly what’s coming next.

We’ve all seen someone we love air drum this part at a party, it’s just so easy to follow along to.



3. Write an anthem

Anthemic hooks are the ones that just so fun to sing along to.

My favorite example is Sweet Caroline from Neil Diamond.

The lyrics are so, so simple especially with the Oh-Oh-Oh part.

It’s the kind of hook that can get the entire stadium singing at a sporting event.



4. Invent a new word

Sometimes inventing a new word is necessary to communicate something deeper about your hook and your track’s message.

In The Motto, Drake is credited for inventing the viral internet term YOLO, which stands for You Only Live Once.

Creating a simple acronym that represents a carefree and risk-taking attitude towards life was enough to capture the attention of the world and turn the track into a massive hit. 

5. Use singable syllables

Words aren’t always the part of your hook that matters, there’s plenty of great examples of melodies sung in syllables that worked perfectly to get the audience engaged.

One reason this song hook writing tactic works is because it removes language barriers.

If anyone can appreciate and even sing along to your hook, you have a much bigger audience.

One such example might be The Beatles’ Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.

It’s instantly catchy and fun to sing along to. I’m sure you’ve had this one stuck in your head before.



6. Use a really simple melody

A lot of today’s pop vocals make use of very simple melodies.

It seems like songwriters are looking for ways to take out notes, instead of adding them.

Post Malone uses this tactic in a lot of his hook writing. His song Rock Star, you’ll find repeated two-note melodies through most of the track.

It’s an intentional move to make the song easy to remember and sing along to.



Hook, line and sing’er

Songwriting isn’t easy, it takes a lot of practice and skill to create something memorable.

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try, it just means you’ll have to put in practice time.

Start experimenting and sharpening your ears for characteristics in your tracks that could work as a catchy hook.

Sometimes it’s best to just throw all the rules out of the window and create something fresh that’s uniquely yours.

Your best bet is to be authentically you as you write your songs, as long as you’re consciously writing hooks into your music your tracks will find their way into your audience’s ears.

The post What is a Hook in a Song? 6 Ideas for Catchier Song Hooks appeared first on LANDR Blog.

from LANDR Blog https://blog.landr.com/what-is-a-hook-in-a-song/ via https://www.youtube.com/user/corporatethief/playlists from Steve Hart https://stevehartcom.tumblr.com/post/611672059196604416

[iyarpage]

What’s the Best Music for Designing to?

Madonna once said that music makes the rebel and the bourgeoisie come together. I find it difficult to believe that either of these demographics would spend much time listening to pop from the year 2000, but who am I to argue with Madonna?

Now, for the young rebels out there, Madonna was our… ummm… Beyonce, maybe? I’m not good at these comparisons.

In any case, Madonna did not say that music is a huge part of the web design process, but she should have. Not on the front-end, thank God. Anyone who autoplays music on their site should be forced to browse with Netscape Navigator for a year, per infraction. But creatives of all kinds, the world over, use music to help them create. Whether they use it to lighten the mood during tedious tasks, to occupy the parts of their brain that aren’t busy, or take direct inspiration from it, music is there, helping synapses make connections.

We thought it would be fun to ask our community what music they listen to. To keep some semblance of organization, we’re going to do this with a series of polls. However, no one on this Earth has the time or resources it would take to make a comprehensive music genre survey, so this will understandably be limited. We’re also going to heavily favor the kinds of music that people typically use to help them concentrate.

Can’t find an option you like? Go blow up the comment section with your genre choices.

Lyrics or no lyrics?

Our first poll is going to be pretty all-encompassing. Simply put, do you like your work music to have words in it, or not? Some people simply can’t concentrate at all if the music has any lyrics, whereas others treat all music as a sort of extra-pleasant white noise.

The Classical Poll

Classical music is often treated as one genre by people who aren’t that into it. Dig past the surface, and you could say that every major composer developed their own genre. Some of them developed more than one, and nearly all of them experimented with what their friends came up with.

Ride of the Valkyries by Wagner is almost the quintessential “epic moment music”. Beethoven wrote massive epic symphonies, too (quite a few, in fact), but some of his most recognizable tunes are piano pieces for quieter moments, such as Fur Elise, and Moonlight Sonata. Many will recognize Tchaikovsky’s most famous work as the soundtrack to fairy tales and cartoons, while Debussy is known for his more sedate orchestral works.

So what’s your classical poison?

The Pop Poll

From cheesy, naïve love ballads, to the literal song-and-dance routines of boy bands, pop is designed to appeal to as many of us as possible. So… it’s no surprise that it does appeal to most of us. I mostly listen to metal and techno of various kinds, but even I can’t help but love some now-classic ’90s pop from my youth. However, I still don’t have a favorite Backstreet boy, and even if I do like some of their songs, I refuse to learn their names.

Going back further, we have Michael and Madonna, the indisputable king and queen of the genre (sorry Cher). Bringing it back to the present, Divas rule the scene, with Beyonce and Lady Gaga each having a fan base that would make some cult leaders green with envy. Look, I’m not saying either one is leading a cult, but if they did, they’d have so many people signing up.

So if you’re in the mood to have your ears soothed by the familiar while you make websites, which would you go for?

The Pre-rock Poll

Before Rock ‘n’ Roll, we had… well we had a lot. But the musical styles that were most popular right before the the introduction of rock include Jazz, Blues, Country, and Big Band. Heck, the Beatles made albums that were almost entirely Country. Beyond that, I have to admit that I am not particularly familiar with the subgenres here, nor any of the legendary musicians of these musical styles. This is largely why they got grouped together.

If you’re in the mood from something out of another time, or just something from the rural U.S., what’s your pick?

The Rock Poll

This is not the greatest music blog post in the world. This is just a tribute. To call yourself a lover of rock doesn’t really narrow it down, much. Rock has more subgenres than several other styles of music combined, and half of them are just metal subgenres. But, if you think of it in terms of your mood, it’s a little easier.

Wanna listen to something angry? Metal always has your back. Ditto grunge. Want something romantic and sappy? Soft rock probably has something for you. Want to hear the legends scream their way to greatness? Classic rock now technically includes everything from the ’90s on backwards, so there’s a lot there. Listening to something but you have no idea what to call it? It probably fits into “alternative rock”.

So what’s your mood?

The Electronica Poll

Ah, electronica. As a young whippersnapper in the ‘90s, we just called it “techno”, and we liked it that way! Oh, don’t hurt me Disco fans, you know I’m kidding. Mostly.

But yeah, we have Disco, and we have all the dance music that came post ‘90s. Then there’s more experimental instrumental stuff like Trance, which was brought to the mainstream, and my attention, by the late Robert Miles. Rest in peace. Then there’s Chillout, a decidedly slower, more sedate form of electronica, often instrumental, which is supposed to help you do what it says on the label.

The Hip-hop Poll

I’ll admit, hip-hop is a genre about which I could be much better educated, though I do rather like most of what I’ve been exposed to. The most popular genres seem to have sprung from the classic days of rap.

There’s Gangsta Rap, for when you need motivation to get your hustle on. There’s Conscious Rap for those who want to spend their day contemplating social issues, and wireframing. Then there’s Battle Rap, where people insult each other a lot. Hey, it can be funny. Lastly, I’m including Instrumental Hip-hop, which can be quite relaxing, actually.

So that’s everything I have space for, and then some. I am now expecting some actual music experts to go nuts in 3…2…1…

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Source p img {display:inline-block; margin-right:10px;} .alignleft {float:left;} p.showcase {clear:both;} body#browserfriendly p, body#podcast p, div#emailbody p{margin:0;} What’s the Best Music for Designing to? published first on http://ift.tt/2fA8nUr

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What’s the Best Music for Designing to?

Madonna once said that music makes the rebel and the bourgeoisie come together. I find it difficult to believe that either of these demographics would spend much time listening to pop from the year 2000, but who am I to argue with Madonna?

Now, for the young rebels out there, Madonna was our… ummm… Beyonce, maybe? I’m not good at these comparisons.

In any case, Madonna did not say that music is a huge part of the web design process, but she should have. Not on the front-end, thank God. Anyone who autoplays music on their site should be forced to browse with Netscape Navigator for a year, per infraction. But creatives of all kinds, the world over, use music to help them create. Whether they use it to lighten the mood during tedious tasks, to occupy the parts of their brain that aren’t busy, or take direct inspiration from it, music is there, helping synapses make connections.

We thought it would be fun to ask our community what music they listen to. To keep some semblance of organization, we’re going to do this with a series of polls. However, no one on this Earth has the time or resources it would take to make a comprehensive music genre survey, so this will understandably be limited. We’re also going to heavily favor the kinds of music that people typically use to help them concentrate.

Can’t find an option you like? Go blow up the comment section with your genre choices.

Lyrics or no lyrics?

Our first poll is going to be pretty all-encompassing. Simply put, do you like your work music to have words in it, or not? Some people simply can’t concentrate at all if the music has any lyrics, whereas others treat all music as a sort of extra-pleasant white noise.

The Classical Poll

Classical music is often treated as one genre by people who aren’t that into it. Dig past the surface, and you could say that every major composer developed their own genre. Some of them developed more than one, and nearly all of them experimented with what their friends came up with.

Ride of the Valkyries by Wagner is almost the quintessential “epic moment music”. Beethoven wrote massive epic symphonies, too (quite a few, in fact), but some of his most recognizable tunes are piano pieces for quieter moments, such as Fur Elise, and Moonlight Sonata. Many will recognize Tchaikovsky’s most famous work as the soundtrack to fairy tales and cartoons, while Debussy is known for his more sedate orchestral works.

So what’s your classical poison?

The Pop Poll

From cheesy, naïve love ballads, to the literal song-and-dance routines of boy bands, pop is designed to appeal to as many of us as possible. So… it’s no surprise that it does appeal to most of us. I mostly listen to metal and techno of various kinds, but even I can’t help but love some now-classic ’90s pop from my youth. However, I still don’t have a favorite Backstreet boy, and even if I do like some of their songs, I refuse to learn their names.

Going back further, we have Michael and Madonna, the indisputable king and queen of the genre (sorry Cher). Bringing it back to the present, Divas rule the scene, with Beyonce and Lady Gaga each having a fan base that would make some cult leaders green with envy. Look, I’m not saying either one is leading a cult, but if they did, they’d have so many people signing up.

So if you’re in the mood to have your ears soothed by the familiar while you make websites, which would you go for?

The Pre-rock Poll

Before Rock ‘n’ Roll, we had… well we had a lot. But the musical styles that were most popular right before the the introduction of rock include Jazz, Blues, Country, and Big Band. Heck, the Beatles made albums that were almost entirely Country. Beyond that, I have to admit that I am not particularly familiar with the subgenres here, nor any of the legendary musicians of these musical styles. This is largely why they got grouped together.

If you’re in the mood from something out of another time, or just something from the rural U.S., what’s your pick?

The Rock Poll

This is not the greatest music blog post in the world. This is just a tribute. To call yourself a lover of rock doesn’t really narrow it down, much. Rock has more subgenres than several other styles of music combined, and half of them are just metal subgenres. But, if you think of it in terms of your mood, it’s a little easier.

Wanna listen to something angry? Metal always has your back. Ditto grunge. Want something romantic and sappy? Soft rock probably has something for you. Want to hear the legends scream their way to greatness? Classic rock now technically includes everything from the ’90s on backwards, so there’s a lot there. Listening to something but you have no idea what to call it? It probably fits into “alternative rock”.

So what’s your mood?

The Electronica Poll

Ah, electronica. As a young whippersnapper in the ‘90s, we just called it “techno”, and we liked it that way! Oh, don’t hurt me Disco fans, you know I’m kidding. Mostly.

But yeah, we have Disco, and we have all the dance music that came post ‘90s. Then there’s more experimental instrumental stuff like Trance, which was brought to the mainstream, and my attention, by the late Robert Miles. Rest in peace. Then there’s Chillout, a decidedly slower, more sedate form of electronica, often instrumental, which is supposed to help you do what it says on the label.

The Hip-hop Poll

I’ll admit, hip-hop is a genre about which I could be much better educated, though I do rather like most of what I’ve been exposed to. The most popular genres seem to have sprung from the classic days of rap.

There’s Gangsta Rap, for when you need motivation to get your hustle on. There’s Conscious Rap for those who want to spend their day contemplating social issues, and wireframing. Then there’s Battle Rap, where people insult each other a lot. Hey, it can be funny. Lastly, I’m including Instrumental Hip-hop, which can be quite relaxing, actually.

So that’s everything I have space for, and then some. I am now expecting some actual music experts to go nuts in 3…2…1…

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