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A hook is a musical idea, a passage or phrase, that is believed to be appealing and make the song stand out; it is "meant to catch the ear of the listener" (Covach 2005, p.71). This term generally applies to popular music, especially rock music and pop music subgenres such as dance music.

A hook can, in general, be either melodic or rhythmic, and often incorporates the main motif for a piece of music. Characteristics of a melodic hook include skips in the tonal line; however, details of what makes a tune "catchy" are difficult to describe. A rhythmic hook can be equally catchy by employing syncopation or other devices, but there are still examples of rhythmic hooks which are very straightforward.

The hook of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" (based on an mbube folk song) uses a background chorale of "a-weem-o-weh, a-weem-o-weh, a-weem-o-weh, a-weem-o-weh" as its hook. The Four Seasons song "Let's Hang On!" features several hooks, from the call and response ending of each verse with the counterpoint of the backing vocals to the repetitive structure in the chorus sung in falsetto. In "Be My Baby", performed by The Ronettes, the hook consists of the "be my baby" lyrics over the conventional I-vi-IV-V chord progression of the chorus (ibid). The drum fill on Blue Monday by New Order is another example of a rhythmic hook. The guitar intro to Sweet Child o' Mine by Guns N' Roses is a guitar hook.

Hooks also occur in much classical music, though the term is rarely used for them; instead they are called "motifs". Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 (featured in Elvira Madigan) uses a prominent motif to add a sense of identity. The first theme in Beethoven's Fifth Symphony uses a simple and memorable rhythmic motif combined with a descending interval of a third which is used throughout the movement.

The concept of a musical hook is the subject of the 1994 Blues Traveler song "Hook", in which the band ridicules itself for playing a nonsensical song reliant on a catchy hook. Conversely, it is also the subject of the 2003 hip-hop song "Wat Da Hook Gon Be" by artist Murphy Lee, in which he states in the chorus, "don't need no fucking hook on this beat," implying that the song's lyrics are catchy enough that he need not employ a hook. Ironically, the music beneath the chorus is used throughout the whole song, and therefore the chorus is itself the hook. The song climbed to #17 on The Billboard Hot 100.

Hooks are often used in music research by radio stations and record companies to gauge the popularity of various songs. Often radio stations conduct "call out" either on the Internet or via telephone or a music test (either online or in an in-person setting) to test the music. Stations may use the services of a professional hook service such as Hooks Unlimited or Autohook or prepare the materials themselves. A hook is typically seven to ten seconds long. Techno music in particular has distinctive, and catchy, hooks.

• Lick
• Riff
• Vamp
• Theme
• Melody
• Ostinato

• Covach, John (2005). "Form in Rock Music: A Primer", in Stein, Deborah: Engaging Music: Essays in Music Analysis. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-517010-5. 

• Gary Burns (January 1987). "A Typology of "Hooks" in Popular Records". Popular Music 6 (1): 1–20.