'Want to start composing music? Try rearranging someone else's first.

Whether or not you've already had some experience with composing music, you might find a whole new source of energy by getting into the head of another composer whose music you admire. A good way to do that is to rearrange that composer's music.

There are lots of ways you can add your own personal touch to someone else's music. Replace the instruments or percussion with others. Change the rhythms or even the entire music style. Throw in some extra notes, or entire new accompaniment tracks. Add some flavor with more complex harmonies. Substitute the lyrics.

I'm not encouraging you to derive music this way and try to market it. Rather, this is for your own experience. By tinkering with the music, you'll share some of the same excitement that original composer did. You'll get deeper into his music. Use another composer's music as a launching point for your own musical explorations.

It has never been easier to do this than today. Probably the easiest way is to find a MIDI file of the song or piece you want to mess around with, and load it into an easy-to-use, inexpensive MIDI sequencer or notation app. You don't need complicated audio software or hardware to do this. You can play your new arrangement through the computer speakers.

My first experience with this technique for learning to compose was at age 8 or 9, when every December my piano teacher gave her students an assignment to rearrange a Christmas carol. My first exercises were to simply change the melody without changing the chords. You can learn a lot about composing by doing no more than that.

Learning to write good melodies is a great place to start. Let another composer provide the chord progressions and accompaniment for you, so that you can focus on nothing but a new melody-- your own.