Need help getting past stage 1

I just finished reading, and understanding, a music theory and a music composition book. It took me a long time because I knew nothing to start with. The books I read were in the Complete Idiot's series(:blush: I guess we all start somewhere).

Now that I am done with those books I do not know what to do to improve. Here is some music I made. I have a hard time getting anything past 30 seconds.

MediaFire- Music Folder

I guess the question I should be asking is, how do I move to the next level in composing music?

Keep composing and listening to music. Listen to as much music as possible and as many different styles all while still writing as much music as you can. I dont know how old you are or any of your future plans but you can also consider going to college and majoring in music composition. Their you will get one on one help from a professional in the field who will help optimize you potential in composing.

Thanks for the response. I am in college right now for Computer Science, its something Im good at but dont enjoy the business of. I usually write a ton but I feel I am doing so blindly. I studied some theory and composition techniques from the books above, but I think my knowledge is now exhausted. I feel it was a good start though. I just found that the subjects harmony and counterpoint have book focused on them. Should my next step be understanding one of these subjects?

not necessarily. You want to study all things music; from counterpoint to electro-acoustic. Harmony and counterpoint is very important and you should study the subets but don't limit yourself to just those subjects. You need to study everything about music in order to broaden your range. Some music history can also be very useful. And again you need to start listening to a lot of music, and not just music from the typical classical Mozart, Brahms, ect music (though they are very important to listen to) but music of all eras. Listen to the music of LIVING composers, such as Steven Riech, Jonathan Harvey, John Adams, and Nico Muhly. Also listen to music from the 20th century. You should also study these composers as well as the composers from the Baroque, Classical, Romantic and other eras. Know what they did that made their sound.

And again write music as much as possible. If you need help with orchestration I would suggest that you buy Essential Dictionary of Orchestration to help you.

The Essential Dictionary of Orchestration looks very useful and its not expensive on Amazon. I'll pick that one up.

I went to the college library and got Theory for Today's Musicians by Ralph Turek. Just reading the theory and then being shown samples helps a lot, I think. I usually play the samples on the piano and end up altering them for fun. My first intention was to get Tonal Harmony but the copy that my library had was stained with nasty yellow stuff.

How does the music I uploaded sound? Does it sound like someone who can improve on his own? Or does it sound like someone who's only hope is formal music training?

I have one word to say- Counterpoint. That is the next step. Followed by writing for orchestra and orchestrating music. In the meantime, listen actively to the different stlyes and forms