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While I get your point, I don't necessarily feel it all needs to be "smooth"; an entire piece need not feel like it's all immediate family. I think, the idea you're asking about isn't necessarily "smoothness", but a sense of connection between sections; natural, organic evolution of a piece. Don't be afraid to stay with a single idea longer than you feel it should. If you've already abandoned something by the 16th measure, you're moving way too fast! Let things sit and simmer...eventually, the music will tell you where it wants to go next. This will come easier as experience grows... That said, don't feel you need to prepare listeners for everything. Unexpected twists and sudden shifts can make for very engaging and creative music.

Hello Young Composers, I want to take this time to discuss a new development I have been working on, which is a standalone music notation program for Windows. The program will integrate with this website which will include comments and music management/uploads. I haven't made any official announcements because I wanted to make sure I was actually able to follow through. The first version of this program will be for Windows, and I am happy to say that none of this will be outsourced. Because it will not be outsourced, fixing issues or adding new features will be much easier to accomplish. I plan on making all files saved by this program exportable to Lilypond, which will be worked on after the main phase has been complete. Thus, the vision is after a score has been saved it will be integrated with Lilypond and export a PDF. This will mean that the program could be used exclusively to create Lilypond files. The features of this program will contain everything you would expect in a typical music notation editor. However once the basic framework of the program has been complete, we can be creative and add features that may not exist on competing products.

Everybody feels this way. Sometimes working with music is frustrating because it feels like the path you are on must be built brick by brick before you can even walk on it, when all you want to do is just walk on it. This is part of the madness of modernism, where originality is more important than any other aspect of the music. I have found this mindset to be a shackle - IF - your problem is continuity. When I give up trying to be original and just write, I necessarily lose many inhibitions. And this means more music. and the more music I write, the better it becomes and the more fun it is to write. That's the way I look at it.

Quite right. Also Kamil, don't make the mistake of thinking that the ideas need to have an obvious connection in order for that natural flow to be present. Music can develop nicely and make perfect sense even if the ideas are only tangentially related or not related at all. Further, don't discount the relationship they can share simply because they arise from that same creative impulse and/or inspiration. Sometimes you get ideas like that and even though they don't share obvious common patterns (notes, chords, general shape, etc.) they're still related atmospherically or otherwise. Even non musical people who may not necessarily have a clear and conscious awareness of these musical attributes can mentally pick up on it enough to appreciate that the natural flow is there despite it not being spelled out for them. Like pate said, you're probably suffering from that dreadful and familiar ailment of the creative mind. You're aware of what you want to express and you're also aware of how far away you are from it. I'm like that too and it sucks. But you just have to tread onward and understand that you're unlikely to reach that perfect composition that expresses itself just how you want it, as it can't happen every time. Be content to view it as another stage in your development as a musical butterfly of wonder.

): I think we all have that day frequently. It comes with wanting to create beauty. You are the only person who can really know the gap between what you want your music to be able to express, and what it is currently expressing, because you're the only person in your own head. So I'm not surprised your professor doesn't see what you see. But the more music you get down on the page, the more closely what you write will express your inner ideas. Is it helpful to look back at where you started? You may not be able to see the progress you are making toward your goals day by day, but I bet if you look back at the first piece you ever wrote, what you write now will seem smoother. (And sometimes it helps just to take a walk.)