Beginning Composition

I've been having difficulty getting started in composing music, I've never written an actual piece of music yet. I've haven't been working with much intensity for long, I'm still learning how to play the piano. I'm currently trying to compose on the piano for the piano. I don't know whether to commit a loose yet lengthy enough combination of notes to memory, or try to dig for something that actually will be memorable without tremendous effort. I'm not sure I'm at a point where I want to write it down yet.

So, some specific frustrations:

1. Occasionally I'll arrive upon an interesting chord change within a nice melody but always, they seem like climactic segments of would be pieces. All I can think about when this happens are musical jokes, this applies to most of my music though I realize I need to tolerate what I can do for now and explore it in greater depth.

2. I can never figure out a good pattern of left hand notes to match the flow of the melody or passage of notes. I'm really curious about this. I think this is the key to getting started.

3. I can't settle on what kind of "flow" I would like to see in beginning music of my own, or what kind of flow I could expect. By flow I mean distinctions between the music of different pieces and composers, who do I want to bite off of first the most, or entirely. I have created segments of "bach invention" rip offs, but mostly it sounds classical, sometimes I get fancy and romantic, sometimes I get bored and it sounds like segments of Beethoven Symphonies or avante garde stuff. I'm striving for something sounding like a generic classical sonatina, but good enough that I like it, just to show a little bit of musicianship to build my confidence.

4. My improvisation is too slow to stray from my expectations, which are accordingly basic.

Any advice would be helpful.

A lot of what you are having problems are very hard to just pin down one answer and a lot of these issues seem to be very piece specific, so its hard to guide you in what ever direction you want to go in. The best I can say is to study the style of music you are trying to write, luckly there are tons of resources when it comes to music of the classical and baroque eras that can be found online.

-Learn to write outside of your own pianism (that could help with the left hand).

-It's going to take a lot of time and patience to write a good sonata.

-Take risks in your improvisations, no matter how seemingly arbitrary they are.

oh!

and http://www.youngcomposers.com/forum/deal-22487.html#post326706

Well let me give you some tips.

1) Don't wait for inspiration to strike. Musical accidents happen all the time, but they are not the norm....

So...

2) Write down something new everyday, anything, it doesn't matter how good it is or if you'll ever use it in any composition, the idea is to get to to see and think about your music.

3) Keep a sketch book.

4) If something you like doesn't work, but you still want to use it, don't be afriad to erase it and save it for later.

5) Find a book on music theory. The one I use most often for quick reference and study is from Harper Collins. Its very complete but also easy to read. The ISBN is 978-0-06-467168-2, I bought it at Border's.

6) (Optional) Buy a copy of the Well-Tempered Clavier and copy out Prelude no 1 and Fugue no 2. The prelude is a wonderful example of harmony and voice leading, while the fugue is a well known tune that can teach a thing or two about counterpoint and development.

7) Listen to as much music in as many styles as you can. I suggest that for a week you refrain from any popular music and listen to straight classical/baroque/romantic this will get your mind thinking in that idiom.

8) Have fun, don't worry about writing something great at first, as long as you are having fun, you're golden.