Songwriting

Verses Need Hooks Too! #Songwriting Hacks

by Clay Mills
Feb 25, 2024

Video Summary:

Today more than ever, it’s not enough that your song has a great catchy chorus. In the modern world you must pull the listener into your song and keep them listening. To do that you need to remember verses need hooks too!

We’ve put together a video lesson that covers these and much more. All of these are tips I pull out of my pro writing sessions and share with SongTown members weekly.

It’s crucial that you become skilled at creating both rhythmic & melodic “hooks” in your verses when writing songs.

Things that pull the listener in are:

  1. A killer opening line that peaks the listeners interest.
  2. Repetition of a hooky rhythmic pattern that matches the lyrics precisely to the number of syllables in the pattern.
  3. Interesting internal rhymes & interesting rhyme schemes.
  4. A repeated lyric in the verse. This is a great solution to verses need hooks. Check out Lady Gaga’s “Million Reasons.”
  5. Interesting Vocal Hooks. (Check out “One More Night” by Maroon 5) Killer vocal hook every time he sings the words you and I in the verses.

Write on!
Clay

Clay Mills

Clay Mills

Clay Mills is a 16-time ASCAP hit songwriter, producer, and performer. He is the co-founder of SongTown and has 2 Grammy nominations for “Beautiful Mess” by Diamond Rio and “Heaven Heartache” by Trisha Yearwood. Clay is also the co-author of Mastering Melody Writing and The Songwriter’s Guide To Mastering Co-writing.

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