Good books for simple composition?

Question

I've taken a year of music theory, so I know all the basic conventions and I'd like to take it a step further and start composing little songs, like minuets or something. Are there any good beginning composition books for someone proficient in first-year college music theory?

I'd like it to apply to any instrument, but I do play classical guitar, some piano and other miscellaneous instruments.

Music Composition 1 by Jonathan E. Peters looks promising. If anybody has read it maybe you could recommend it.

Answer 1

Fundamentals of Musical Composition by Arnold Schoenberg, maybe. It was written specifically for undergraduate classes at about your level, and despite Schoenberg's fearsome Modernist reputation, it deals very strictly with tonal music with ample references to the music of the Classical and Romantic composers, and it's clearly written.

At this point, I'd start by writing for the instruments you do know, but it can't hurt to pick up a book on orchestration. I haven't any particular favourites - a fair number, such as Adler, Rimsky-Korsakov, etc., cover the essentials. This might be fodder for another question. :D