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[Supermikhail]

Well, the title says it all. Except that I'm a University student of 22, in a department with no relation to music whatsoever. My musical experience consists mainly of playing guitar for the past 5 years, and mucking about with computer midi for a bit less time. Also, somehow, when I had less experience, that is, about 3-2 years ago, I composed a few pieces that I liked, but now it feels like I just lost something. It might have been youthful naiveté as a source of inspiration.

I guess I could explain what "great music" means for me. My definition would be - "complex, catchy, and original". What I've been putting out recently falls way short of this definition, especially on the third part, when I mostly do transcriptions and adaptations. When I'm inspired to write something original, I either quickly find that the idea is derivative, or I put out repetitive and boring stuff... or the piece turns out so original that I don't know how to progress.

So, can anybody offer some tips, suggest a book, an Internet site, or something that could help my cause?

P.S. There is a website on which you can browse through some of the midis I've done if you for some reason feel like it.

[Virex]

Try finding some information about music theory perhaps? It could help you understand why music sounds the way it sounds.

[Supermikhail]

Hm, while I don't trust Wikipedia in the matter of education (in fact, I don't trust most of the Internet in this matter), this advice has been helpful in that I decided to Google to the core. And came up with this article... Scratch that. Not really helpful. I've tried learning music theory on the Internet, but it's kind of hard. I wish there was a really helpful book, like Composition For Dummies, I guess. With great exercises. I believe in the power of exercises. But I haven't met such a book.

Turning off my inner critic... he sooner turns off me, than I him.

[eerr]

Join a music forum.

[Supermikhail]

Great advice. "Go somewhere else with your questions."

I've come up with a bit more for myself. Maybe the way to start is to write exactly the opposite - completely unoriginal stuff. Try to broach different genres, ethnic styles, etc. It could provide useful exercises, just like I wanted. Yeah, what exercises aspiring students of any professions do? Such that they involve the whole range of the sciences they study and increase in difficulty. Maybe I'll start with what my book on guitar starts with - études and simple pieces.