richardcareyford

Matt, this is a really good question. It's not an actual problem to have a lot of pieces going at once. Are you writing so many at once to avoid finishing one? If so, then stop. :facepalm: There a couple questions that you can ask yourself musically that may prove helpful here with "how to continue a song." 1. What is the song about musically? Not a story or mood or anything else that isn't the music. What musical idea is about? For instance, with Beethoven's 5th it's about the opening motive. Pick what one of your songs is about musically and then keep working on it with that in mind. 2. What do you want to accomplish with the piece? I see your a Mackey fan so you may be in a band/wind ensemble. As an example you might have a song where you say, "I want to have a 4-minute piece that my band can play through and maybe perform." That would give you a clear direction for what's next: "okay 4 minutes long, for band, like other band pieces I like with a great beat and fun to play." Same thing if you say, "hey I want a 2 minute solo for trombone" or "I want a symphony that out-Mahlers Mahler." 3. What do I want to leave a listener or performer with? Is there a part of the what you're writing that you want people to remember? Maybe, you want a performer to be challenged so you'll explore something technically demanding. Maybe, you want to have the listeners be calm and struck by the beauty of the piece so you write something that is full of long phrases and dissonances that resolve into gorgeous chords. The key to remember is that everything you write is something you're making up. You get to say how it's going to sound and what instruments you write for. There isn't any universal answer to how to finish a song. All there is is to write and make choices and see if YOU like how it turned out. The more pieces you look at from that perspective, the more you will develop your ability to finish songs. Good luck!