#9 Using repetition and variation
Like it or not, repetition is a vital ingredient in music, especially pop. I’m not necessarily talking about the kind of relentless hammering of a chorus hook that makes your parents mutter darkly – annoying parents has been, after all, one of the main remits of pop all along. No, the kind of repetition here is more to do with individual notes, or pairs – specifically using repeated phrases or motifs to build melodic hooks.
The main idea behind repeating elements in your music, be it individual notes, small groups of notes or even complete hooks, is to fix the tune firmly in
