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Music Terminology


Guest Scott 5FD

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Guest Scott 5FD

ok this might sound like a stupid question, bu i need a definition of certain musical terms like Hook, Lick etc. i know how to implement them in songs etc. but trying to tell other people what it means is impossible for me. anyone who can explain these terms has much thanx.

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a hook isnt a thing in particular, it refers to having a song that will stick in your head, the chorus you have been singing for the last few hours, that is the hook, the memorable part of the song

lick is a song, or part a song you can play, when someone says, lets hear your licks they want to hear your best riffs and playing

any others?

David

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  • 4 weeks later...
Originally posted by N0use4aname237

Hook is also used to describe the point in the song that tells u whats happening next eg the build up to a chorus or the first chords of the verse.

When do I get my thanx?????

:dunce:

erm, when did this start. A hooks always been the bit in the verse or chorus that sticks in your head for days. It 'hooks' you.

Swim little fishie.

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Guest iamkelly

if you really want to make it confusing or be terminologically (?) correct, there's two hooks to each song. primary and secondary.

Primary- as most people would agree, the catchiest part of the song..

Repeated Secondary (melodic)- part of the intro usually. keeps reappearing in the song between the verses and again sometimes at the end of the song as an outro. A lot of bands use a catchy riff as a "secondary musical hook". a good example is TBS. each song has like 4 Secondary hooks.

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Originally posted by Bass Monkey

ok this might sound like a stupid question, bu i need a definition of certain musical terms like Hook, Lick etc. i know how to implement them in songs etc. but trying to tell other people what it means is impossible for me. anyone who can explain these terms has much thanx.

Hook - The catchy part of a song that makes you want to hear more or grab your attentions.

Lick - What david said.

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Originally posted by N0use4aname237

so we're both right then???

:cheers:

probably...

No. You're not. The only thing close to what I think you're on about would maybe be a 'lead-in'.

Licks, riffs and chops are pretty much the same thing although you could say riffs are more chunky and chord based. If you want to hear a riff, listen to AC/DC...

More importantly though, remember that Sonata Form is always Exposition, Development, Recapitulation.

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Remembering that riff stands for rhythmic figure should make it a bit easier to understand.(although my dictionary says it could be short for refrain)

I've always understood lick to be similar to a riff but relying more on melody than rhythm for impact.

As for chops Frosty, I've always understood that to be the ability to play cleanly and accurately. e.g. 'When I got the plaster off my arm it took me weeks to get my chops back'

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just had a wee look on allmusic.com

Riff: "Riffs are repeated phrases of pronounced rhythmic character but often not strikingly melodic"

Lick: Basically improvising over a passage (in key and in keeping with the style).

Chops: Originally meant the cheeks and lips of woodwind players and applied to their technique. Now a general term for technique.

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Originally posted by N0use4aname237

:dunce:

Well dont I feel stoopid...

You live and learn mate, live and learn.

The thing about chops coming from woodwind players I never knew before but it makes sense (I'll smack you in the chops e.g.). It's got some fancy name like embouchare (which also makes sense if you know a bit of Italian).

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Originally posted by spellchecker

1. embouchure

I even do Italian.

I find that hard to believe, Italian verbs end in -are (the most common) -ire or -ere, very few do not end in those three.

You do have words like tradurre etc. but most are hangovers from old latin (all highly irregular and a bitch to learn cos there's about 76 different conjugations) and there's not a lot.

My girlfriend's Italian by the way, I will enquire.

I've just realised, we're both wrong. An H can't be before an A or U. It's only function in Italian is to make a C or G hard before an I or E (except in the written language where it's used to differentiate between words like 'ho' 'I have' and 'o' 'or')

Stick that in your spellchecking pipe!

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Originally posted by soundian

I find that hard to believe, Italian verbs end in -are (the most common) -ire or -ere, very few do not end in those three.

You do have words like tradurre etc. but most are hangovers from old latin (all highly irregular and a bitch to learn cos there's about 76 different conjugations) and there's not a lot.

My girlfriend's Italian by the way, I will enquire.

I've just realised, we're both wrong. An H can't be before an A or U. It's only function in Italian is to make a C or G hard before an I or E (except in the written language where it's used to differentiate between words like 'ho' 'I have' and 'o' 'or')

Stick that in your spellchecking pipe!

Bollocks. I must be needing more oil or something. Or batteries. I was simply going by the likes of http://www.ryanfraser.com/lessons/start/embouchure.html . I haven't a clue about Italian, other than "parla Inglesi?'. Consider my pipe properly stuck.

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  • 4 weeks later...
Originally posted by soundian

As for chops Frosty, I've always understood that to be the ability to play cleanly and accurately. e.g. 'When I got the plaster off my arm it took me weeks to get my chops back'

As in

'forget their chops and play real dumb or else they would be sunk?'

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I've always believed that chops in guitar reffered to "chopping" a chord off short with either the left or right hand rather than allowing it to sustain. As in reggae for instance.

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Originally posted by Spook

I've always believed that chops in guitar reffered to "chopping" a chord off short with either the left or right hand rather than allowing it to sustain. As in reggae for instance.

I'm sure you could use it that way but 'your chops' is definitely technique. As I said before it comes from the way a wind player used their tongue,lips,teeth and cheeks to produce a note. Chop is another word for jaw and is normally used as a plural. 'I'll smack you in the chops'.

Only read this bit if you're an insomniac!

Chap also means jaw but it also means 'an opening or fissure in the flesh or skin'. I wonder if there's a connection.

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I knew about the chops thing for woodwind players but thought chop chords was different. Guitar literature refers liberally to it as well. Same word different context I guess.

Chaps are also what cowboys wear over their jeans.

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