name that tune
I have noticed a particular riff, a certain sequence of notes at particular intervals, that appears far too frequently to be coincidental. It can be concealed by different phrasings, meters, keys, etc., but once I identified it as either a hook or a primary counter-melody in several hit songs, I began to notice it in a variety of pop tunes, old and new.
In the key of D major, for example, the sequence would look something like this:
F# - E - F# - A - B - A - F# - E - D (the last note being the resolve, although whether the phrase resolves or not depends, of course, on where and how the line appears in any given song).
In this sequence of notes, those on which the phrase turns tends to be (in this case) F#, A, and B. Two common, pared-down variations on this theme are:
F# - A - F# - B
and
F# - B - F# - A
I plan to make a list of songs that mobilize this catchy sequence here, along with a link to play each, and a citation of the exact time in the track where it appears. Then you can see for yourself! I’ve wanted to know what other people thought about this for some time now. Why is this theme so common? Can it, as a hook (or sub-hook), be attributed solely to trend, or to habits of a socialized ear? More broadly, can all hooks, by definition, be understood as inclinations of the socialized ear?
