Music: The Greatest Instrumental Hooks (non vocal)

[Lshap]

Remember the 80s songs by Ah-Hah, "Take On Me"? Of course you do. You could probably hum the chorus – "Taaaake ahhhnnnn meeee" – but the real payoff is that iconic keyboard riff. Without that instrumental hook the song would never have become a hit, never mind remembered decades later. IMO, that string of keyboard notes is one of the best hooks in pop history.

So what are some other classic instrumental hooks? Nothing sung, we're talkin' about a short burst of notes played on guitar, bass, keys, whatever instrument, that became a signature sound.

Just thought of two good examples of instrumental hooks from Queen:

- The bass riff from "Under Pressure".
- The rhythm from "We Will Rock You" (BOOM BOOM CLAP!, BOOM BOOM CLAP!)

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[kihei]

Walk on the Wild Side
Silly Love Songs
Satisfaction
You Really Got Me
Regret
And I Love Her

 

[NyQuil]

Remember the 80s songs by Ah-Hah, "Take On Me"? Of course you do. You could probably hum the chorus – "Taaaake ahhhnnnn meeee" – but the real payoff is that iconic keyboard riff. Without that instrumental hook the song would never have become a hit, never mind remembered decades later. IMO, that string of keyboard notes is one of the best hooks in pop history.

When I heard this, I kind of had to smirk a little bit:

 

[NyQuil]

I use this instrumental hook as my ring tone:

 

[HansonBro]

I guess the guitar here counts

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

When Eddie comes in on Running With the Devil

The crazy drum solo sounding like a giant cam on Hot For Teacher

The opening bass line on Peace Sells

The caveman fill from Grohl to kick in Smells Like Teen Spirit

Dimebag's riff on Walk

The bass/kick combo beat on Closer by NIN that both sounds like and matches a heartbeat

Eddie's synth line on Jump

 

[MakeTheGoalsLarger]

Picture books's guitar riff
Walkie Talkie Man's guitar riff
Warning's guitar riff

 

[Zodiac]

the sax riff is a beauty.

 

[NyQuil]

The crazy drum solo sounding like a giant cam on Hot For Teacher

I remember as a kid listening to this in the car on tape and my Dad wasn't familiar with Van Halen.

During this song, at the beginning, he pulled the car over because he thought something was caught in the wheels.

 

[NyQuil]

Every keys player of a certain age had to know how to play this riff:

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

I remember as a kid listening to this in the car on tape and my Dad wasn't familiar with Van Halen.

During this song, at the beginning, he pulled the car over because he thought something was caught in the wheels.

Haha, that's pretty funny.

I remember seeing a bumper sticker similar to that. Basically it said "if your muscle car doesn't sound like hot for teacher, then I don't want it"

 

[Primary Assist]

The guitar riff on Beat It is legendary, Steve Lukather crushed it there to pave way for the signature Eddie Van Halen guitar solo. The star power on the Thriller album is untouchable.

Speaking of Lukather, the porno-sounding hook on Steely Dan's Peg is unreal. For a song that literally has a one-word chorus (and a great one at that) the hook does a lot of the heavy lifting there.

On the topic of 80's Yacht Rock icons, Kenny Loggins has some catchy as all hell hooks in his music. From Danger Zone to Footloose, the non-choral bridges of his songs can almost match his sweet dulcet tones.

Rounding out these 80's icons, this thread would be remiss without the opening electric piano riff/bridge to "You Make My Dreams" by Hall and Oates. It's a shame that the Leafs' use of this song will be associated with yet another era of mediocrity, because it really is the best goal song in the NHL right now.

And to top it off... Madonna. Vogue, Borderline, Material. The musicianship among these pop hits shows that Madonna is way more than just a glitzy pop star and was capable of writing some iconic original music that not only captured the excessive zeitgeist of the 80's, but that could also hold up to the modern day and inspire a slew of others like Lady Gaga and Katy Perry, who have dominated the pop airwaves for decades.

 

[Jack Straw]

 

[Jack Straw]

Clapton is kind of the king of guitar riffs

 

[Jack Straw]

Bass line on "Spanish Moon" by Little Feat

 

[Jack Straw]

The guitar riff on Jumpin' Jack Flash makes you wonder how something so simple can be so good.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

The guitar riff on Jumpin' Jack Flash makes you wonder how something so simple can be so good.

Same goes for Satisfaction

 

[Chili]

Sultans of Swing
Black Magic Woman
Someone Somewhere in Summertime

One that defies description:

 

[NyQuil]

 

[GabeTravels]

Free Bird.
Sweet Home Alabama.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Thought of another.

Mungo Jerry - In The Summertime

 

[Zodiac]

awesome classic guitar riff.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

The opening riff of “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath??

 

[tarheelhockey]

Sultans of Swing

I was gonna say, the first thing that came to mind was that silky-smooth guitar hook from Sultans of Swing.


Also the opening riff to Sweet Child o’ Mine. The origin story is that Slash was just messing around on an unplugged electric during a jam session, and came up with it on the fly. Axl had enough of a musician’s ear to recognize it had potential to be the backbone of a song… which is funny because it almost certainly sounded like shit at the time.

 

[Mescaleroman]