David's Tip of the Day: Joining a Band - Part 7 (The Hook)

The Hook is like the Head in respect to it being the main theme of a song, but as you found out yesterday, the head is an entire chorus in length and is played in the opening and closing of a song. Inversely, the Hook is a short lick, commonly one to two bars in length, that permeates the entire song. The head is played by the lead instruments and the rhythm section commonly plays a standard groove (shuffle, swing, etc.). Inversely, the hook is played by the rhythm section (sequenced for each chord), with the solo instruments sometimes playing the hook (usually for accompaniment purposes, which is why we're speaking of it now).

My example from two days ago was "I'm ready." Visit https://www.facebook.com/bluesharmonica for the hook written for the harmonica (2nd Position... though 3rd Position works very well too). Notice how the lick is sequences over all of the chords.

If you would like to learn more about the power of playing the hook, visit Accompaniment Study 8 in the Lessons section of BluesHarmonica.