At the moment i'm kinda finishing grade 7 theory, hope to do it in November. I can do all the otherparts in the past papers but its the flipping composition/finishing a melody i can't do!
I get how to complete the melody and how to look at the harmony etc but i just can't make the peice go anywhere. It always goes around in circles.
And i'm even worse at the composing in a modern style choice, I can't start them off, I don't no what to do!! I understand all the theory and basics behind both of them i just can't put it into practice!!

Anyone got any suggestions?

(sorry, i think this was more of a rant about composition!!)

Well what you need is either a perfect or plagal cadence in the home key to finish. Does your harmony naturally lead to feminine ending? if so work them into every aspect of your compostion.

Decide on some form or structure for your piece.

Look at your melody. Is in 2+2+4 = 8 bar form.

Try to encorporate some form of modulations using pivot chords and melodic sequences.

Know your circle of fifths.

If you get an excitingly long way away from your home key, learn ways of getting back quickly.

Use melodic and harmonic decoration such as appogiaturas and suspensions.

Use augmented 6th chords and pivot note moduations if necessary.

Play around with dimished 7th chords.

I suggest you do this as an improvisation exercise as much as a paper exercise so you get to learn how to hear what is on the page.

Listen to the styles of composition you need to do.

Immerse yourself in Corelli Trio sonatas, Haydn String Quartets and Bach Chorales.

I have not taken Grade 8 theory. However I have an A level in Theoretical Music and a degree in Music where I specialised in musicology.

The best skill I was ever made to learn was score reading. I am not a natural pianist, the the mental discipline of score-reading Corelli Trio Sonatas, Haydn String Quartets and 4-8 part open vocal score before going onto wind quintets written with the Clarinet parts in Bb and the Horn parts in whatever although it drove me mad at the time has served me well.

Ok thanks, I'll try to get down to it!

Ahhh you did a degree where you specialised in musicology. Thats what i really want to do - either the history of music or music anyalsis.. But it getting through the first year of university first that looks the hardest, My keyboard skills aren't great and i haven't taken grade 8 on my main instrument yet so just trying to get the theory to a high level really.. and hope for the best!!

Depending on the syllabus and entry requirements of the university of your choice, you may be putting your efforts in the wrong direction. At my university, the entry requirements were Grade 8 on your main instrument, at least Grade 5 on piano, and A-level Harmony. I didn't even have the last, but the requirement was waived as I was a mature student: the Head of Department heard me harmonise a tune on the piano and declared me adequate. I had taken Grade 5 Theory many decades earlier, so my theoretical knowledge was minimal, but when I came to composition lectures and exercises, I found that I had a more than adequate aural feeling for harmony from playing lots of orchestral and chamber music and being a fairly good vocal sight-reader.

Re "modern style": our composition lectures in all styles started with listening to an example and our attention being drawn to its characteristics, including form and melodic, harmonic and contrapuntal idiosyncrasies. We were then told to write something similar. This is a procedure with a long tradition: more than one self-taught composer (Elgar and Schubert come to mind) wrote complete symphonies using the form of a work from an earlier master-composer, but finding original themes and more recent harmonic idioms. Elgar destroyed the result, as a mere exercise; Schubert's 5th is said to be based on Mozart's 40th. I don't see why the same procedure should not apply to your composition exercises, taking your example from a contemporary composer of your choice.

Mine was in historical musicology, however, you still need to have the ability to do the rest first.

Kenm's suggestion's are very wise.

I had two harmony and counterpoint papers. One was Bach Chorales the other was trio-sonatas and string-quartets. I then had two history papers and Two set periods and Two set works. Set Period one was the Classical Period including 1750-1830, and the other was 1875-1910. My set works were Beethoven's 5th Symphony and Mahler's 1st Symphony. I also had to know the about the general history of music from 1500-1987 and all the major trends, and have specialist knowledge of the development of the Concerto, and the development of Opera. That was just the A level.

All the analysis done at that stage was harmonic. It was only when I got to Uni I got to know about Schenker and Reti, and had other things thrown at me like historiology and aesthetics! Oh and as I covered Mahler at A level, I did quite a lot of work into Orchestration comparing his style with Berlioz.

At Uni I ended specialising in the English Baroque, partially because of the availability of tutors, and also because tastes change.