The Hook Factory

Great hooks share measurable qualities. They typically use notes from the pentatonic scale — the same five-note scale found in music worldwide. They repeat a short rhythmic motif two or three times, then add a slight variation that keeps the ear interested.

Radio programmers lean on this: the more you hear a melody, the more you like it, up to a saturation point. The best songwriters build hooks that feel inevitable — as if the melody could not possibly go anywhere else.