If you take a look back through history at hit songs that come out of Nashville, you will come across many a clever lyrical hook. In fact, the pun-ridden, double-entendre is almost directly proportionate to the age of the song. Even twenty years ago, Nashville songwriters were striving for songs with that sort of hook almost entirely. Such is not the case anymore and many more pop-flavored country songs have title/hooks that are totally innocuous and forgettable, even though the song might be quite unforgettable for other reasons.

For the purposes of this article, you will be learning How To Create Nashville Hooks in a way that still works today in many of the tunes that come out of Music City. These are hooks of the lyrical kind as opposed to the musical kind, and are designed to grab you by the ear so that you remember that part of the song almost instantly whether you want to or not. Sometimes they fall into the category of seeming almost corny but such is the nature of many humorous country songs such as Some Beach and Me Neither. Making the listener smile is always a good idea.

In the vast majority of country songs, the hook is the title. A good argument could be made that in the name of creativity this doesn't always have to be the case. Touche, but one should learn the rules before one breaks them, and the market has a way of determining what works anyway. Making the hook the title is definitely a tried and true formula.

To really drive your point home, get to the hook fairly quickly in a song. It may exist at the end of a verse where there is a bridge and no chorus or more likely it will sit at the beginning or end of the chorus....or both, as in the bookends formula. There are many variations as to the location of a hook and listening to the radio is a great way to become familiar with them. Do what the pros do if you want to be a pro!

Typically a hook is heard 5-7 times in a song but this too can vary. Your ear should be able to hear the point at which enough is enough! Underline your hook with a melody that adds punch and isolates your hook. There should be little doubt to the listener as to when he's heard it go by! Hit songwriter, Jerry Vandiver put it well when he said, "Nobody walks down Second Avenue humming a verse." That is unless they are working on a song of their own, of course!http://www.songwritersresourcenetwork.com/songwritingtip3.html

Think of all the songs out there that have completely vanished from your mind....except for the hook. Perhaps some of them were your favorite songs in high school. Why is it that one phrase is often all you can remember? The songwriter who wrote the song did their job well, that's why! He or she made sure the hook was easy to sing. They made sure that the natural stresses of the words don't interfere with the phrasing of the melody and vice versa. They may have used alliteration, which is the repetition of consonants as in the song Cat's In The Cradle. They may have given new meaning to an established cliche or substituted one word in a cliche with another. There are countless ways to come up with great hooks. http://www.musesmuse.com/5.4-July02.html#article2

Sometimes a songwriter writes from the hook and sometimes he or she will write the song and then come up with a hook based on the lyric. Running two phrases together can be interesting. Combining a phrase like 'Ball and Chain' with the phrase 'Chain Reaction' yields the hook "Ball And Chain Reaction." But does it mean anything that's usable? Sure, in this case. A person could have that effect on another in a negative scenario.

A single prop can be the inspiration for a song hook too. Or try using a very unlikely word to describe a noun as in Michaelangelo Sky. Ask a question, make a colorful statement about one's mood, or simply repeat a turn of the phrase over and over while ending it a bit differently each time. The methods are countless. Train yourself to take note of the hooks in hit songs and observe how their effectiveness was achieved.

So, can a hit writer write a great song called "I Love You"? Of course, they can. It happens all the time. But, undoubtedly, the song was not a hit because of the weak hook. In a market where it is about as difficult to gain success as it is to stack beebee shot, a songwriter might as well use every method they can to gain attention. Music publishers, record executives, and recording artists are always on the lookout for great hooks. Who can resist the kind of hook that tickles your curiosity or makes you smile in humorous anticipation of where you think the song is going? Nothing is more gratifying than coming up with that terrific one that you just can't wait to write, the kind that is so good that you merely have to perform the rest of your job in a writerly fashion. Frequently a quick glance at your title/hook is all you're going to get from 'the powers that be'. If Joe Record Exec has ten songs on one tape to listen to, he is not going to bother with the one called "I Love You" even though it may be a killer. Especially when a songwriter is still in the years of proving himself, he has to go that extra mile. When you write a song, don't give them any reason not to cut it. They still probably won't, but your odds of getting noticed will be lightyears better! http://awritersparadise.com/boreus.html