Nekdo

John, thank you for your advice. I have also been noticing for the past two months that just sitting in front of the piano and trying to reconstruct my favourite pieces improved my ability for coming up with good harmonic progressions immensly. As for scedhule ... Composing and coming up with stuff is quite fun so consistency is not that much of a problem ... However, It's a bit different with staring at the score and following notes, but I guess it's also much more benefitial.

Hi, Luis :) Thanks for your feedback. Very helpful. I guess the piece really is a bit too repetitive (I was so determined to keep it simple that I eventually reached the other extreme). Maybe checking traditional musical forms would not be a bad idea at all. I guess it's somehow like a guarantee that you repeat themes in moderation. Thanks again for your reply!

Hi! This is a piece that I've recently written (It's one of my first). I'd really appreciate any feedback from you. (especially regarding structure and form... Is it too repetitive? Is it not repetitive enoough? And also about orchestration and other topics in general... ) Thanks a lot for your reply!

Thank you all for your quick reply. You really provided some useful information. Very helpful :)

Hi! I have recently begun with music composition and I'd really like to know what methods do you use for expressing your ideas. Most of the time I find myself simply opening the MIDI editor and starting to write music. The problem with this method is that I tend to concentrate solely on the actual sound (with reverbs and choice of instruments) while neglecting more important parts like melody and basic structure. Therefore my pieces often end up as a total mess with no order and consistency. I really wonder how some of you do it. How do you write down your first ideas? Do you simply take pen and paper and write down main motif? Do you write a mindmap that helps you with the structure? Do you record different ideas and then choose between them? Do you actually write a complete score before you jump into MIDI editor? Thank you for your help

thank you all for your reply :) I finally have a few guidelines and am a bit less confused. I will definitely check those three books you mentioned and tried to build on that (and yes, I will treat your words as a gospel :P ... I need to begin somewhere). I will also check the finale notepad. I already have some experience with Muse Score... Pretty awesome program, I have to say... Though I've never tried to actually compose something with it. So I finally have a plan. I will begin studying harmony and than move to other topics like counterpoint. I will also start composing today (though I will probably need to turn off my sense of estethic when listening to my "masterpieces" or else I will damage my ears :P ). I will invest more time into listening to other music genres and I will learn, learn and learn untill I die (or lose my motivation... Which hopefully won't happen). So thanks once again for sharing your tips. I'll definitely make use of them. I's really encouraging to hear that I already have some basic knowledge and that I should just put my head down and start creating something.

Hi! I'd really like to learn basics of music composition. I'm very interested in writing classical orchestral or piano music, but I have no idea where to start. I know that the best option would be finding a good tutor, but I'd rather learn by myself via internet. At the moment, the wish to learn is basically all I have, apart from small theoretical background. I don't even know what skills are necessary for composing (which makes searching for articles online incredibly hard). I would very much appreciate if someone could give me some advice on where should I begin. Should I first improve my piano skills? Should I improve my ear? Should I find myself a book? Should I start with an online course? How much money should I spend (I presume it's hard to get good quality content for free)? Should I use multiple sources? If anyone has experience with books or online courses that suit my level of expertise, I would be grateful if you could share it. My current knowledge and skills: I can recognise and use major scale, melodic and harmonic minor scales, as well as a few modes of major scales (I have some experience with jazz improvisation). I have no problems with constructing and recognising intervals and some basic chords with inversions (minor, major, augmented and diminished, a few types of seventh chords). I have pretty developed ear. I'm quite good at playing saxophone and I also have some experience with piano (which is convenient I guess ...). I would be very grateful for any piece of advise :)