Creating Hooks: Songwriting Tips from Neil Diercks | Berklee Online | ASCAP

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Creating Hooks: Songwriting Tips from Neil Diercks | Berklee Online | ASCAP | Songwriting

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In this free songwriting tutorial filmed at the 2016 ASCAP Expo, Berklee Online songwriting instructor Neil Diercks offers tips for creating different types and layers of hooks that will make your songs memorable and impactful in the industry.
About Berklee Online:
Berklee Online is the continuing education division of Berklee College of Music, delivering online access to Berklee's acclaimed curriculum from anywhere in the world, offering online courses, certificate programs, and degree programs. Call, text, or email an Academic Advisor today:
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About Neil Diercks:
Neil Diercks is a Los Angeles-based songwriter, song coach, and musician. He served for many years in various capacities at Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., in Nashville, beginning as an intern and eventually becoming Manager of A&R Activities. It was within this role that he worked with hit songwriters including Gary Burr, Steve Bogard, Stephony Smith, Jeff Stevens, and Victoria Shaw, who penned hits for artists such as Tim McGraw, Garth Brooks, George Strait, Trisha Yearwood, Faith Hill, Ricky Martin, and Christina Aguilera.
Neil is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Berklee College of Music, where he studied songwriting, voice, and music business, and went on to serve on the Board of Trustees for three years. He has lectured and led songwriting workshops internationally, and has won several awards for his teaching, including the UPCEA Excellence in Teaching award (2015); the Pearson Excellence In Online Teaching award (2015); The Berklee College of Music Distinguished Faculty Award for Berklee Online (2016). He currently collaborates with songwriters and artists in Los Angeles and around the globe.

Пікірлер: 327

@defman9414 6 жыл бұрын

Here are some of the main tips from it: (1) Build your song from the ground up... engage brain last. People don't want to think/analyze when they are dancing or listening to music... it must affect them at a core heart level. (2) Fundamental level of a song = groove/rhythm. Compose the melody on a monotone to discover the rhythm. (3) Keep asking yourself questions... how does this affect me emotionally, etc. (4) Build silence into what you are doing. (5) Contrast. (6) Don't make it too complex... instrumental melody do whatever you want... but vocal melody must be easily singable and easily picked up by listener

@kennethochoa7550 2 жыл бұрын

boy thanks for penning these note cause nothing stuck but to be fair i was working on filing all my art works so for all you people who think you are great at mulit tasking let this be a lesson 4 you can't talk on the phone, do your home work or watch tv at the same time without making one or the other suffer

@arthurmurfitt7698 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Def Man 😊

@JamesBond-zd5jx Жыл бұрын

Thanks and hallelujah.

@astroo_official Жыл бұрын

You’re really a Legend 🫡

@dazknight9326 7 ай бұрын

Hmmm. Interesting. Thanx

@lungilengxola925 8 жыл бұрын

Start at 19:30, for those of you who want to focus on the art of melody,.

@rootvalue 7 жыл бұрын

THANK YOU

@DavinaOriakhi 7 жыл бұрын

thanksss

@ericzayne 7 жыл бұрын

THANK YOU...

@joelhutton9748 7 жыл бұрын

Bless

@violinoscar 7 жыл бұрын

Lungile Ngxola thanks, mate

@sonibraun4971 6 жыл бұрын

What people don't understand is that he's representing a concept, it's not about clapping. He just offers very clear tools how to make a song with the hooks you really like - step by step (building up base, beat, melody, lyrics etc.). In the rhythm class I attended we were clapping all the time, everything is about repetition and feeling into the things and getting new ideas. You can dismiss those you don't like and keep or better those that really resonates with you. The same with the lyrics. I really enjoyed the video and learned valuable insights...and wrote a song with hooks I liked right after the video.

@irenashiloh8808 2 жыл бұрын

I got the same thread from this video and found it very helpful. I think you are correct, it's about the mental tools that we can use to construct the channel for the music to come to us. I really love your comment, Soni. Thank you for summarizing it so well. 🥰

@shadowbanned7575 6 жыл бұрын

*It's this simple:* Music is a conversation between you and your audience. Music theory is a reference to help you get your point across as effectively and efficiently as possible. This in a sense should be only ADDING to your creation. If it's somehow taking away, then you're utilizing it entirely the wrong way. If used correctly, it increases the chances your audience will connect with what you're playing. Just like speech, you can't just make noises with emotion and expect people to know what you're saying, that is, not unless you do it in a way that can be understood, in their language... Hence the reason music theory came to be in the first place.

@maya-rq5he 3 жыл бұрын

well put

@kgbird 3 жыл бұрын

Bravo

@MrBryan90 7 жыл бұрын

I feel like I just snuck into an entrepreneurs meeting about which stocks to invest in. This stuff is gold. Especially @ 36:00-37:25, that opened a chamber of secrets o.o

@duniaquirante5083 3 жыл бұрын

Harry Potter?

@eqt.studios 4 жыл бұрын

I'm a bit shocked about the amount of negative comments in this section here... I think the talk was really nice and it gave me 50 new approaches and things to think about. I also loved the vibe in that room and the mediocre clapping never felt awkward for me - I think it's a sign that the people were really (mentally) engaged - which is good :-D

@Berklee_Online 4 жыл бұрын

Thank you for the kind words! 😊

@neilwalsh3977 4 жыл бұрын

@@Berklee_Online This is actually fundamentally important stuff. Stravisnky said music begins with the 'lowerarchy'

@EnchantedHarp 4 жыл бұрын

I agree. I admit that I watched this at 1.75 speed so maybe that would have helped some people?, but regardless, this video had some very fundamentally important things in it. Many times I get so caught up in the notes and chords and pitch changes, that I feel like I'm meandering through the woods with the melody, so this helped me so much! :)

@duniaquirante5083 3 жыл бұрын

Lol pa paaa pararapa, pa pa pa...

@blakepotter7937 3 жыл бұрын

To be fair, I wouldn't consider a collective of creatively subjective interpreters anything to warrant the use of"negativity" especially in the realm of the internet. If you got something... thats a winner right there.

@ediepetrachi1745 5 жыл бұрын

One of the best teachers I ever had the pleasure, honor to work with !! Neil helps make songs find their way to us...

@irenashiloh8808 2 жыл бұрын

I love what you said, "He helps songs find their way to us"... Thank you for that thought.

@colepeterson9961 6 жыл бұрын

A lot of people are saying negative things about this guy but honestly I like him I can tell he's bringing up something, realizes hes got a million things to say about that little segment of a whole idea, and then moves on and continues with the simplicity of the idea in a way thats understandable without making a 20 hour ordeal of it.

@penayoung 7 жыл бұрын

Love all these berklee videos. It's like a music school on my smartphone!

@WeAreBXC 7 жыл бұрын

I really think the idea they all built a little song together. Would love to see this taken to the extreme and have the 50 people REALLY create a song together.

@christinagraf9724 2 жыл бұрын

This was a fun class. Being an extrovert I love the interaction with the students. I wouldn't get bored in his class. Since I'm a beginner 🙄 🙄 I was able to take some info from the class yet have so much to learn. 👍

@StevenMercuryLance 6 жыл бұрын

This was helpful and fun to watch! I almost didn’t watch it because I was reading the comments and people were making it seem like a waste of time. I think reading their start ass - trying to be funny - comments were the true waste of time. Watch it, it’s good.

@beatrixwickson8477 7 жыл бұрын

"I have to condense a 12 week course into 55 minutes" procedes to pad five minutes of content into 68 minutes.

@keshawnverna1928 6 жыл бұрын

Over the rainbow

@dudeman5303 6 жыл бұрын

Lol i just started the video. After reading this I have a feeling I'm not going to finish it

@defman9414 6 жыл бұрын

True. Clearly he is a creative whose brain drifts like butterflies that never seem to land. I can relate.

@ed7string 6 жыл бұрын

to be fair he is teaching to a large group of people, unlike a youtube video where people can rewind or pause whenever they'd like to

@ThoughtWave64 6 жыл бұрын

Def Man, an accurate and prosaic assessment.

@pavelalonin5322 6 жыл бұрын

Thanks a lot for subtitles. They're obviously advanced. It's a helpful feature for some foreign listeners.

@JokeJoshua 7 жыл бұрын

guys just study similar written songs and do your daily ritual which is object writing add things like metaphors, antomyms, similies etc and you should come up with a decent song. remember practice makes perfect

@rootvalue 7 жыл бұрын

Hahaha, art is DEFINITELY a matter of following a formula, like Mad Libs. No one ever wrote a hit song straying from convention.

@rootvalue 7 жыл бұрын

What are you talking about John? I literally copied the video description because people didn't know who Neil Diercks was.

@rootvalue 7 жыл бұрын

I was being sarcastic. Forgive me, it's difficult to relay over the Internet. Please interpret, instead, my comment as: "Hahaha, art is definitely not a matter of following a formula, like Mad Libs. Almost all hit songs were written straying from convention."

@globalmalfunction 7 жыл бұрын

John Cavanaugh Lol Kanye west

@paulawilliamson637 6 жыл бұрын

Going back to the rudiments of songwriting is probably way below the people that have commented here, but going back to see if there is anything left to learn, can complete our foundational tool kit, allowing us to easily glean lyrics, instrumentation & inspiration from a rich complication of ideas .......

@adamsacresoffgridpermicult499 3 жыл бұрын

Very interactive felt like I was sitting there

@carlosuter3341 Жыл бұрын

When we are writing songs we are writing emotions 5:45. We make them feel what we are feeling, we manipulate their feelings. What creates emotions: motion, harmony, delivery, lyrics, chords, contrast, melody, strong intention/mission/message, you go first to the heart before it goes to the brain. Highs and lows. The 2 most important lines are the first line and the first line of the chorus to cause Immediate impact. The first chord and note. Each transition in the song needs impact. There is a million way to write a song but the destination is the same. Some start with lyrics or chords, beats or riffs. The groove is the most basic thing of a song, vibrates your body, start down, lowarchy. Start with rhythm gives an automatic feeling. Select tempo. 14:00 36:00 song Sweet Carolina rhythm is a hook. 46:00 simplify your hook and melody. Taylor Smith out of the woods" is on 1 note. Clarity trumps cleverness. Comment section: great hooks without rhyming: Billie by Phil Collins. Steeley Dan Hey nineteen. 1:05:00 Katie perry roar: compete lyrics, complete vowels and drops in the title. Label songs where the hooks are. A song is a list of patterns. Hit song deconstruction. Same melody repetition in a song.

@avinandandey6418 3 жыл бұрын

This is a good lecture... BECAUSE IT WASN'T BORING

@shroombaker 8 жыл бұрын

Interesting technique on co-writing. Too bad the class was not understanding the concepts.

@joejoexm 6 жыл бұрын

Wow! This really help me see were i need to grow.. and as he was speaking I kept on getting ideas on how to improve what songs I’ve wrote all ready.

@adalbertojohnson8226 7 жыл бұрын

THIS GUY IS A STANDING COMEDIAN

@pacman_pol_pl_polska 7 жыл бұрын

With awful laugh.

@hmph9369 5 жыл бұрын

@@pacman_pol_pl_polska ya it lowkey creeped me out

@Swirlingflame 5 ай бұрын

Best songwriting teacher I've ever had!

@TheShrubbist 2 жыл бұрын

This guy is great! It's like Bobcat Goldthwait and Jack Johnson got fused together in a science experiment and came up with our host for this lesson.

@MrMikomi 7 жыл бұрын

It's amazing, but also gratifying, that so many people still dream the dream of being a successful songwriter, despite the fact that there is so little money in the business these days.

@restclip Жыл бұрын

Very thankful for Berkeley online

@AlleXionX 10 ай бұрын

The people who complain about this workshop prob write terrible songs!!!! Bring y’all negativity somewhere else, smh. He is dropping a lot of gems in this vid.

@dougthemoleman 3 жыл бұрын

"You should go and love yourself" is the most polite curse I've ever heard. So thank you for that. I have a hard time stomaching Bieber, but that one was cool.

@dayneblack_ 3 жыл бұрын

ed sheeran and benny blanco actually wrote that bar

@irandis 2 жыл бұрын

the original line was "you should go and f yourself" but Sheeran and Blanco made it a lil bit easier to digest commercially speaking. lol

@ConstantThrowing 6 жыл бұрын

This guy seems like a cool dude.

@MrWaterboi74 3 жыл бұрын

The best professor ever.... makes you wanna work hard because he really cares about you and your career as a musician...

@SwiftDreamer 7 жыл бұрын

I felt the melody was something similar to jeopardy as far as that feeling of passing time. but it's something to do when youre bored to past time instead of feeling like you're being timed.

@ascendantindigo271 3 жыл бұрын

Billie by Phil Collins is one of the coolest hooks I've ever heard that doesn't actually rhyme...Steely Dan - Hey Nineteen another classic example of great chorus structure...

@BlindTom61 7 жыл бұрын

Lot of talk, not a lot of information.

@Schodboyblves 7 жыл бұрын

listening to him talk is pretty chill though

@wxxxbattle 7 жыл бұрын

nahh just you that has a short attention span

@wxxxbattle 7 жыл бұрын

badum tsh

@JaimeBlanco666 7 жыл бұрын

My initial impression: this guy is high. lol

@ericzayne 7 жыл бұрын

Yea I hate when teachers are more interested in trying to be funny

@louisruffin6808 Жыл бұрын

Have A BLESSED DAY.

@gabrielladim9440 3 жыл бұрын

Man I can't sleep, I always hear baa baaa bararabap. But thanks I learned alot

@AuroraDAmicoMusic 7 жыл бұрын

Loved taking his "Writing Hit Songs" course, on Berklee Online! It really empowered my songwriting

@heroblok6 7 жыл бұрын

Aurora D'Amico are you a robot?

@barryzito5721 4 жыл бұрын

The tip at the end made it worth the whole video

@TheBetty8steeles 8 жыл бұрын

also collaborating is good when the other person is a creative person, just in general, and not all number crunchy , and scared of not breaking rules and all stiff ha ha , you know when you work with someone like that because you feel like you are at school again ha ha

@AgileDumpling 6 жыл бұрын

i've been there, i've felt this bitterness...

@TheM4rster 6 жыл бұрын

"breaking rules" most people doing a "collab" don't even know any musical "rules" and probably didn't even "break" any while being "creative"

@sonibraun4971 6 жыл бұрын

yeah, that is why Beatles got so famous. They didn't know what cadences are and so on. None of them actually could read sheet music, let alone utilizing a (complex) music theory haha. Even today Paul McCartney admits though reluctantly he cannot read any sheet music (in a video on youtube). People might get just restricted by music theory. It should be the other way around. The ideas, artistic freedom comes first, music theory is solely a tool deriving from trying to organize, to systemize certain occurrencies in music.

@mykilallen7145 4 жыл бұрын

Chorus has just always been the catchy part or the most remembered

@jessiehermit9503 2 жыл бұрын

The chorus is about more than just being catchy, in my opinion. That's where the meaning of your song usually lays, (in my opinion), and is also the most emotionally poignant.

@Emondotcalm 7 жыл бұрын

He's asking them questions but (for the most part) only he can hear what the audience is saying. I'm finding that a bit irritating.... You'd think they would have thought of that when they made this...

@sheilahopper3058 6 жыл бұрын

I can't believe he said they were all musicians in the class... They had a very hard time clapping hands

@gavinbarragan2419 3 жыл бұрын

Not musicians, songwriters 😂

@robertzanetti6351 3 жыл бұрын

Not their primary instrument

@cosmicmatrix6238 7 жыл бұрын

thanks for helping me to the next level! OMG

@quitamaeofficial808 2 жыл бұрын

This is the best KZfaq channel ever!!

@ianparker5007 Жыл бұрын

This was so great. Felt like I was in the class!

@dianaordaz9104 6 жыл бұрын

REST IS THE RHYTHM CONTINUING TO CREATE/MAINTAIN THE EFFICIENCY SINCE since the GOAL is to CREATE & RELEASE TENSION as long as there'sa PATTERN🎵. Thats how I see it. I was waiting for SOMEBODY to say it while yelling at my phone anxiously😂

@WowDragonsJD 7 жыл бұрын

His voice doesn't change no matter where he is in relation to the microphone

@yungdadbod 6 жыл бұрын

He’s got a mic on his shirt

@suzanneroux 7 жыл бұрын

Brilliant, thanks so much for putting this out there

@hmph9369 5 жыл бұрын

I had that whole ba ba bababa thing stuck in my head for hours

@pndy2136 3 жыл бұрын

This helped! I rote 2 hooks while this lecture!♥️

@Plafintarr 7 жыл бұрын

Thank you! Time to create some infectious rhythms!

@JohnProph 7 жыл бұрын

hooks? Def Leppard "Pyromania" album

@GilCruzxab 7 жыл бұрын

no disrespect but is this an actual Class?

@AbneRaben 4 жыл бұрын

this would be great in a 360 cam, so I can see the clappers

@crouchedw 6 жыл бұрын

Get on with it!!!!!!

@Fish-bq5ge 7 жыл бұрын

It was cool until the awkward clapping. lol no one could stay on the beat

@465marko 7 жыл бұрын

must have been a lot of drummers in the audience

@CarlosMedina-zq4lz 7 жыл бұрын

Lol

@luvpants2012 3 жыл бұрын

A hook is magic

@judahgamermedia 3 жыл бұрын

I’ve been writing hooks for a few weeks now and this class is freaking awesome. Started writing because I’ve been making beats sense I was 12 and I always knew I could do it just was holding myself back for a while. When I write I don’t have any beat just a melody in my head with words and a concept. This is gonna help me more then just a beat maker but a composer and song writer! Who know I may even become an artist myself

@judahgamermedia 3 жыл бұрын

Oh and I’m 36 now. Don’t hold yourself back from your dreams! Go for it! The journey is worth everything

@ledaswan5990 9 ай бұрын

U can do it

@markbrainard5250 3 жыл бұрын

I've had many co-writers on my songs...some of them aren't aware of it.

@perdapro 7 жыл бұрын

Some great info, but could easily be 10 or 15 min long.

@rickychase7814 7 жыл бұрын

LOVE THE BACK DROP

@kaulinman9670 7 жыл бұрын

I loved the insights I had with this lesson!!!! Thank you so much!!

@DNixon845 7 жыл бұрын

8 minute clap a long....no.

@antonellacarmelino8497 9 ай бұрын

More videos like this please 🙌🏻 thanks ❤

@nabilbhaai 2 жыл бұрын

Damn, dude was really high!

@beermilkshake 5 жыл бұрын

Stand still dude!

@synergydaartist 2 жыл бұрын

Good job everyone and Professor Berklee 😎

@olgalanaki 8 жыл бұрын

That's cool!

@maocharlisme 7 жыл бұрын

Stop letting the class do the work for you! Argghhh it's driving me crazy!!!

@haui82 6 жыл бұрын

If that's the best what the audience can come up with they need a lot of training^^

@chrisarias4055 7 жыл бұрын

53:00 "sick and tired" how we all feel at this point in the video

@sknnymusic1213 2 жыл бұрын

the teacher is fun i like him 😂

@erkkieras-jorma1814 7 жыл бұрын

I want my 1 hour, 8 minutes, and four seconds back! Just kidding, i didn't watch that.

@beermilkshake 5 жыл бұрын

Erkki Eräs-Jorma lol

@mariadam9157 Жыл бұрын

- great!

@arthurmurfitt7698 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for posting this 😊

@TaraSwicickiTarasTunes 6 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much. Great information I can apply this to my songs. :) Which is good because Im a bit stuck lol. Subbed :)

@neilwalsh3977 4 жыл бұрын

Actually excellent stuff - it's easy to overlook the simplicity, in a way, of composition

@denomdemon 3 жыл бұрын

That's some real good clapping and bup bupping.

@ProgRockDan1 7 жыл бұрын

Good stuff but it is very slow. Thanks for the thoughts.

@quentinbohannon6611 5 жыл бұрын

This session as help me so its working

@Dizzeeyout 8 жыл бұрын

Thanks for sharing.

@NoahHornberger 7 жыл бұрын

29:00 funny to hear these musicians adding a chromatic half step all the time because they are afraid of singing the same pitch over and over

@saucemaster5765 3 жыл бұрын

Is that what the problem was? Shit was hard to listen to, almost all of them seemed off beat and unsure of themselves

@blueisnotgreen7258 8 жыл бұрын

can anyone think of a song that 1 starts off complicated, cerebral and flawed 2 THEN gets into a visceral groove flawed like the first part 3 transition/bridge that "explains" or "shows" the flaw and isolates it (this is hard to explain) 4 same groove as number 2 but "fixed" 5 same complicated part as number 1 but "fixed" ...like a flawed epiphany that is turned into something wonderful through hard work I can only think of That, That Is by Yes but it somehow has even more parts and changes than this...

@JashJhaveri 8 жыл бұрын

not exact but listen to "suddenly" by asap rocky... its a good one

@dannyd1224 7 жыл бұрын

i dunno what you mean by explains or shows...but some songs off of the first mars volta album start out in total chaos and later on it all kinda makes sense and is "fixed"

@MastaJuggalotus 7 жыл бұрын

Ed Sheeran has some good songs that complete your list. Most aren't heard on the radio, but they're there.

@SoloElROY 7 жыл бұрын

Daniel DeMayo mmm kinda Tetragrammaton imo

@JashJhaveri 7 жыл бұрын

Saucerful of Secrets?

@BillyReedMusic 5 жыл бұрын

1:07:17 Interesting exercise. Thanks for sharing this lesson!

@GTORT 4 жыл бұрын

Honestly? This could be the whole video 😂😂

@guerillagunsmoke 6 жыл бұрын

beat - bass - melody - vocal melody - lyrics - those are the constituent parts for the basis of a verse/chorus. this tutorial didn't get past step number 2. what he was saying was correct but a song must be interesting in all it's steps. the song on here never got past the bass melody part because bah bah..bahbah is not engaging enough. the tutor should have known this at first glance. perhaps a band on-stage to keep the beat and play the students choices would have moved the process to a quicker and more satisfying resolution.

@RobT7 6 жыл бұрын

This would be a great lesson for pre-schoolers. haha

@ginob615 7 жыл бұрын

This entire video was truly valuable, however one thing that I found very valuable that was incredible easy to miss because he ran out of time, was color coding melodic patterns @1:05:45

@ediepetrachi1745 5 жыл бұрын

take his courses at Berklee Online...: :)

@thespacealienssmogandgrog4283 10 ай бұрын

It's like Spicoli giving a talk on songwriting.

@annakat03 7 жыл бұрын

Would've been nice to be in that class

@M2Mil7er 7 жыл бұрын

Front row girls, Back row girls, Brush your teeth, Count me out.

@Allen2saint 2 жыл бұрын

Wow, it’s a struggle to get through this.

@beautybysilde4045 Жыл бұрын

Emotions

@MusicAusUS 8 жыл бұрын

tempo. tempo. tempo

@surfrider71 3 жыл бұрын

great vid!

@avinandandey6418 3 жыл бұрын

I just realized I talk like him and it's fun

@JudaicMosaic 7 жыл бұрын

I think he meant, "Ed Sheeran's song 'Love Yourself'..." considering this is a songwriting lecture and Bieber's record is oozing Sheeran style elements.

@JudaicMosaic 7 жыл бұрын

(because he wrote it)