The best hooks for guitar reels, from 2,452 that went viral
We read the opening line of every viral guitar reel in Aubrium's library: which hooks show up most, which travelled furthest, and 16 real ones to learn from.
What does a hook look like when an account with 1,280 followers gets 755,097 views out of it? This: "THE TUNING I ACCIDENTALLY INVENTED".
Five words, all caps, and a claim you have to hear before you believe it. We went through the opening lines of 2,452 viral guitar reels in Aubrium's library, from 1,610 creators, to find the hooks guitarists lean on and the ones that carried furthest. For every other niche, see the best hooks for Instagram reels; for the niches themselves, every niche we've read so far.
On viral guitar reels, the curiosity gap is the most used hook, on 21% of the reels. The kind that went furthest is the relatable line: its middle reel reached 19 times the creator's following. 68% open with words on screen. Shorter hooks travelled further, and the middle hook runs 9 words.
Aubrium's library, 22 October 2026.
What kind of hook works best for guitar reels?
Relatable lines, the inside jokes only guitarists get. They're 9% of viral guitar reels, and their middle reel went 19 times the creator's following, more than any other common type.
Curiosity gaps are the habit, on 21% of them, with the middle one at 12 times, level with the niche's middle reel. Questions are on 9% but sit lowest of the big types, at 9 times. POV hooks reached 16, though only 48 reels use one. And 37% have no real hook; those reached 12, level with a curiosity gap.
16 guitar hooks that went viral
Sixteen hooks from sixteen guitarists, each their most-viewed reel with an English hook. Gear, tunings and in-jokes turn up again and again.
- Curiosity gapText and spoken
THE TUNING I ACCIDENTALLY INVENTED
- RelatableText on screen
Classical musician at heart always
- RelatableText on screen
Every Guitarists right hand
- RelatableText on screen
When the bass player is the best guitarist in the band:
- RelatableText on screen
'Wow you have so many guitars, you must be so good at it'
- Curiosity gapText and spoken
Comparing a 200 euro guitar and an 8,000 euro guitar.
- Curiosity gapText on screen
He did that while explaining 💀
- Curiosity gapText on screen
sweet child o' mine but it's minor and in 15/16
- Curiosity gapText and spoken
This Guitar is a WASTE of MONEY.
- Number listText on screen
9 MISTAKES THAT MAKE YOUR GUITAR PLAYING WORSE
- Number listText on screen
Best 2000s Metal Riffs
- Bold claimText on screen
The ORIGINAL guitar stringing technique
- Bold claimText and spoken
Best Feeling: Knowing how to "fake" a distortion pedal
- POVText on screen
POV: you trip and accidentally buy a guitar
- NegativeSpoken
The glamorous side of guitar repair.
- Transformation teaseText on screen
Doing this 100 times can change your playing I explain why in the caption
How long should a guitar hook be?
Short. The fewer the words, the further the middle reel went, and the typical hook is 9 words.
The slope here is clean. The middle reel with a hook of 1 to 4 words reached 18 times its creator's followers; past 20 words it reached 8. With each step up in length, the figure holds or drops. 45% of the 896 English hooks are 8 words or fewer.
Should you say the hook or show it?
Show it. Hooks written on screen and not spoken travelled furthest: 14 times their creator's followers for the middle reel.
A voice alone, on 9% of the reels, reached 9, and saying it while showing it, on 21%, reached 10. With both hands on the neck, a line of text is the easy way to say something anyway, and text alone is also the most common way in, at 47%.
How do viral guitar hooks start?
"This" opens 46 of the 896 English hooks and "if" 40, while "how" and "POV" tie at 31.
- this 46
- if 40
- how 31
- POV 31
- I 30
- here's 25
- the 24
- so 20
- when 19
- okay 16
- what 16
- let's 15
The first word of 896 English hooks on viral guitar reels, and how many start with it.
Four of the shapes in use, with a real guitar hook for each.
POV…
“POV: you trip and accidentally buy a guitar”
When… / If you…
“When the bass player is the best guitarist in the band:”
A number, then a list
“9 MISTAKES THAT MAKE YOUR GUITAR PLAYING WORSE”
You… / Your…
“Your bandmate just sold his tube amps for a modeling rig.”
Keep reading
To see how these reels are filmed and who posts them, go to how to go viral with guitar reels. Guitar covers have their own page, hooks for song cover reels, and if you teach, the hooks music teachers use are close to yours.
Questions people ask
What's a good hook for a guitar reel?
Relatable lines, going by reach: the middle one went 19 times its creator's following on viral guitar reels. The most used type is the curiosity gap, on 21% of the reels.
How long should a guitar hook be?
Short. On viral guitar reels, hooks of 4 words or fewer reached 18 times the creator's following for the middle one, while past 20 words the figure was 8.
Should I put the hook in text or say it?
Text. Hooks shown only on screen travelled 14 times the creator's followers on viral guitar reels, against 9 for a voice alone.
Do guitar reels need a hook?
37% of viral guitar reels open without a real hook. Their middle reel still went 12 times its creator's following, level with a curiosity gap.
Can a small guitar account go viral?
Yes. 44% of viral guitar reels are from accounts with under 10,000 followers, and the middle reel came from an account with 11,918.
How we did this
We looked at every guitar reel in Aubrium's library on 22 October 2026: 2,452 reels from 1,610 creators with 1,000 to 100,000 followers, each of which reached at least twice its creator's follower count and at least 10,000 views. We counted every reel filed in Aubrium's guitar niche; a reel can sit in more than one niche.
Hook types, delivery and on-screen text are labels Aubrium's reader puts on every post. Hook length and first words count the 896 reels with an English hook in words. Every number here describes reels that already went viral, so none of it is the odds for a new one.
Changelog
- First version.
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