Taylor Swift
May 28, 2023: ABC: Why do some songs get stuck in your head? The psychology behind catchy musical hooks
Well done, you're obviously a Swifty. There’s a case to be made that almost every moment in Shake it Off is a hook.
Why it’s a hook: The chorus of Shake it Off features some of its most memorable hooks, from the repetition of the rhymes, to the conversational chatty melody, to the unexpected leaps at the end (and that’s only a few of them). It’s probably the case that different people focus on different parts of the music — some might be more drawn to the rhythm, while others may focus on sound and timbre or melody and harmony.
Shake It Off
Written by: Max Martin, Taylor Swift and Shellback
As performed by: Taylor Swift
Published by: Universal/MCA Music Publishing PTY LTD and Kobalt Music Publishing Australia P/L
Well done, you're obviously a Swifty. There’s a case to be made that almost every moment in Shake it Off is a hook.
Why it’s a hook: The chorus of Shake it Off features some of its most memorable hooks, from the repetition of the rhymes, to the conversational chatty melody, to the unexpected leaps at the end (and that’s only a few of them). It’s probably the case that different people focus on different parts of the music — some might be more drawn to the rhythm, while others may focus on sound and timbre or melody and harmony.
Shake It Off
Written by: Max Martin, Taylor Swift and Shellback
As performed by: Taylor Swift
Published by: Universal/MCA Music Publishing PTY LTD and Kobalt Music Publishing Australia P/L
Dec 8, 2022; Music Radar: Taylor Swift has used one particular chord progression 21 times, says this pianist
This is particularly true if you’re working in the pop genre; for years, artists have leant on the same chord progressions to write hit records, so it’s perhaps unsurprising that when pianist David Bennett went through Taylor Swift’s back catalogue, he discovered that she’s used a small number of the same diatonic progressions many times over.
This is particularly true if you’re working in the pop genre; for years, artists have leant on the same chord progressions to write hit records, so it’s perhaps unsurprising that when pianist David Bennett went through Taylor Swift’s back catalogue, he discovered that she’s used a small number of the same diatonic progressions many times over.