One of the things that separates the different DAWs, is the strength of their score editor.
 
Sonar's score editor is not very strong, I believe Cubase has one of the best.  If you are writing traditional music notation, consider Cubase or Avid Sibelius.
 
OTH, Sonar has the best user interface and is highly configurable.  Don't underestimate the advantage of working with a program that is attractive to look at.

FCCfirstclass
I have to mention Scott Garrigus' superb book on Sonar X3

Thanks very much for the mention, Clint!
 
And welcome to the forum, Virtuoso! I think you'll find plenty of useful features available for making music in SONAR.
 
Scott

--
Scott R. Garrigus - http://garrigus.com - SONAR X3 Power! - http://garrigus.com/?SonarX3Power
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar and Sony Sound Forge Power book series: http://garrigus.com/?PowerBooks
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar ProAudioTutor video tutorial series: http://garrigus.com/?ProAudioTutor
* Publisher of the DigiFreq free music technology newsletter: http://www.digifreq.com/
* Publisher of the NewTechReview free consumer technology newsletter: http://www.newtechreview.com/

Everybodys recomending Producer but did you all know that very little is actually missing  from Studio if you look at the comparison list.  A few fancy plug ins and Addictive drums.  So I will recommend the Sonar Studio version for first time users. You can always upgrade. 
Download and try the demos of different DAW's if you have time.
 
That's a good point about working with notation which is Sonars weak spot. 
 
Your going to need an Audio Interface as well. Not sure if the Roland interfaces still include Sonar but the new Tascam interfaces are now including Sonar. So that's a way to get a free copy of the basic version. You can try it and then upgrade for a very reasonable price. 

thank you all my friends. i think its best to just start working and learning from caketv and refrence books before just starting to do my recording on it but still will be one more question if you dont mind and that is cjaysmusic mentioned.what is audio engineering? i think as a begginer i dont know resposibilities on recording a song. let me explain more. im finishing music teory  and im just starting to write. i have good ideas(as other people say) and im just starting to work on them and i write on paper or simple programs like guitar pro. but after that if we were about more than 30 years ago there was no such programs like sonar, score on the paper was all and a band to record that but now after this level we have mixing and mastering and working effects and arranging and timings(for example just notes doesnt explain the feel and ...) i want to know a good musician should do this level or it is something that should be done by other speciallists and trust them they will whay you want. as you said this is a long process and needs a lot of work on. thank you for helping

I think the kind of music you intend to write may well have a bearing on which DAW to go for. To me, Sonar is a good all-round choice, but then again I don't use the notation editor which as many will tell you is one of its weaknesses. I mess with mainly synth based music with some "real" instrumentation and Sonar has served me very well although Cubase, Abelton and Reason seem to be more popular among composers of electronic/dance styles. One of the reasons I chose Sonar was because it seemed like the most complete packages in terms of instruments and effects. For sure, the Producer version definitely provides you with all you need to make great music. If you plan on writing orchestral pieces, you'll probably want to consider Cubase for its score editor, as well as the purchase of a good orchestral sample library (which could run up to $300+ for a basic one).

There are orchestral instruments included with Sonar Producer (within Dimension Pro) but they're quite basic. Good, but not "movie score" quality.

If you want to get a basic flavor for music production you could do worse than downloading the free trial of Reaper, it's not quite as "polished" as some DAW's but a lot of people regard it very highly. It's certainly a very solid and stable program. You could learn the basics of audio recording, MIDI sequencing and mixing with Reaper, and if you decide to buy it it's very cheap (in fact the "demo" never stops working, it just reminds you to buy it). It comes with a few basic effects and synths.

virtouso
thank you all my friends. i think its best to just start working and learning from caketv and refrence books before just starting to do my recording on it but still will be one more question if you dont mind and that is cjaysmusic mentioned.what is audio engineering? i think as a begginer i dont know resposibilities on recording a song. let me explain more. im finishing music teory  and im just starting to write. i have good ideas(as other people say) and im just starting to work on them and i write on paper or simple programs like guitar pro. but after that if we were about more than 30 years ago there was no such programs like sonar, score on the paper was all and a band to record that but now after this level we have mixing and mastering and working effects and arranging and timings(for example just notes doesnt explain the feel and ...) i want to know a good musician should do this level or it is something that should be done by other speciallists and trust them they will whay you want. as you said this is a long process and needs a lot of work on. thank you for helping

This forum exists to answer questions.  The membership pool have the experience and knowledge to handle just about any Sonar and music related question. You have come to the right place.
 
Sonar is the easiest and best balanced DAW on the market.  Still it is deep and powerful. It will take time to get competent with it. Though it should be quicker than other DAWs in its ability for new DAW users to get up and running.
 
You have already laid out a good path for learning Sonar. We are here to help you get over the spots that may hang you up a little. So call on us at anytime. 
 
And we are your friends.    

If you have the time, it would be best to demo different DAWs.  Usually one is easier to learn for each individual.  I'd suggest SONAR, but that was the DAW that made the quickest sense to me.  before that I had experience w/ an old Yamaha midi computer program for their computer/DX synth and analog.  If you just want to record audio, SONY's Vegas is a great program (plus you get the best video editor for the PC).
 
You need to realize that DAWs are like word processers.  They all do the same thing and you can create music just like typing words, then editing them, or move them around via cut (or copy) and paste, change the fonts etc. and print the whole thing out.  You can recreate the same print out on most any word processer, but one of them might be a little easier for you to grok and the one you learn on will be the easiest one you to learn further capabilities.  Choose wisely and be prepared to spend a lot of time learning the basics, esp. if engineering is new to you.  DAWs are programs not so much for musicians as engineers, even if you just want to record your guitar work.  If that sounds rough, DAWs used to mean getting under the hood of your PC so you were your own tech support.  Most of that is over, so thank your stars for that.
 
Finally, the 3 separate versions of SONAR give you some choice w/in the family.  Pro gives you just about everything you need, plug-in wise.  Even the cheapest  version gives you plenty of tools, but the more expensive versions give you better tools.  The ProChannel effects (comps and EQ) are top-notch, Breeverb and Perfect Space are two outstanding reverbs and the synth collection that comes w/ Pro is enough to satisfy most needs, except for synthesists who collect soft synths like guitarists guitars. If you can understand the SONAR demo version fine and want to jump right into the deep end of recording right away, Pro is the way to go (and will save a few bucks rather than upgrading your way to Pro).
 
@