Can someone help me understand the difference between a riff, melody and hook in electronic music (techno/house)? Or just music in general?
Thank you!
Riff - you know it when you create it
Melody - you know it when you whistle it
Hook - you know it when you can’t stop hearing it in your head
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A riff is something repeated so often that it forms part of the structure of a song and can crossover into being a rhythmic element because of the repetition. A hook is the most ear-catching element of a song, quite short and not recurring all that often. A melody is just the lead part of a song or section and can be quite long (like a vocal).
Of course, all these things can crossover.
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About 1 million album sales.
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This is my take:
- A melody is a sequence of notes (pitch, rhythm). Its role in a piece of music can be anything (main lead, bassline, other accompaniment, whatever)
- A hook is a melody that serves as the main focus of a certain section in a piece of music (like the melody of a song’s chorus)
- A riff is a melody or other musical unit that is often repeated (ostinato) and serves as accompaniment, yet is characteristic of the piece (e.g. I wouldn’t call generically strummed chords on a guitar a “riff”, but a repeated groovy bassline is a riff to me).
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This is all super helpful. I’m just trying to think through what are all the elements of a track (song)
I tend to either add way too much stuff or not enough - like, missing a hook (or some recognizable thing)
Or - adding one too many melodies to a track rather than just sticking with one and having it change over to time
Things get interesting with techno and house because so many different elements can be so many different things…fun stuff
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If folks could indulge me - how do the different elements (hook, riff, melody, etc) line up with this track? Like what would you consider the melody (the repeating perc?) Is that vocal the hook? What do you call that organ synth thing that comes in around 4 minutes? The riff?
I think this track is like 20+ years old
Riff is for being bad ass and show off.
Melody is to bring someone into your bed.
Hook is to pay the butler.
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No, percussion is not considered melody. You need different pitches for a melody. Two pitches from a pair of bongos is a bit of a stretch to call a melody.
I think you could consider the vocal sample (“Everybody …”) a hook.
Not sure there’s a riff here.
The first 8 seconds of bassline is here is what you’d call a riff. “Papa was a rolling stone” is a clear hook (it’s the thing that’s distinctive, that “hooks” you into the song). Everything vocal line is a melody. Mostly, the strings are playing melodies. But the wah-wahed guitar in this case is not really a melody, it’s a rhythmic effect without much pitch information.
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Vibes.
What about that horn though?
You mean where does it fit in ? It’s another melody.
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Another example to analyze:
Melody = Ron Isley’s lead vocal
Riff = The clavinet part the meshes with the guitar
Hook = The guitar part
A hook can be part melody, part riff, per Berklee article.
The hook is what lets you know that you’re hearing this particular song (or Ice Cube’s “Damn It Was a Good Day” that sampled this song). When people hear that guitar part, they tend to think “Damn It Was a Good Day” unless they heard the Isley Brothers song first.
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Riff is half Melody’s age plus 7.
Melody is 3 years younger than Hook.
Hook is the same age as Riff’s father.
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Riff = Smoke on the Water / Satisfaction.
Melody = ABBA / Beatles.
Hook = The catchiest bits of melody / riff that get caught / hooked in your head.
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A Riff is a musical motif or repeated line played with a single instrument. I see it as slang used by instrumentalists to describe the hooks or melodies they write on their instrument.
A Riff doesn’t have to contain much of a melody or anything melodic at all: think something like Meshuggah’s “Bleed”.
Could it be considered a lead?
I’m into this thread btw 
What is the purpose of these questions? Are you trying to incorporate pop music architecture into techno music to make it more palatable and familiar for non-electronic music audiences?
Here’s a riff and here it is as part of the song
A riff is any distinctive and quickly repeated part. Though soloists will sometimes talk about riffing n a theme … that is, soloing. That’s not the general usage though.
First they hook you, then they riff you, then they melody you to pieces.