There are musical-people and there are non-musical people. I am a musical person myself (in that I like musicals, not in that I am musically talented.) There was a time when I would have tried to convince a non-musical person, such as yourself, of the glory of the art form. I have since learned that it is a hard-wired distinction, not amenable to change--like the difference between those who (mistakenly) believe Sean Connery to have been the best James Bond, and those who understand (correctly) that the best James Bond was really Roger Moore.
As for the "where do you go from Tolkien" question, the answer is, as some have said, downhill. He was the greatest, no question. There are a few who are nearly as good, but not many, and the vast majority are lousy. I love epic fantasy with Elves and warriors and such, but most of it is so derivative of Tolkien I've almost given up and switched entirely to "Discworld".
Oh, I thought of a good series to read, one for young people actually (10-15) but I quite enjoyed it: the Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia Wrede. There are four in the set, quite funny, but they really don't make much of a distinction between good and bad magic, so if you disapprove of 'good' witches forget the recommendation. Otherwise it's quite funny. I believe the first is Dealing with Dragons, the others being Searching for Dragons, Calling on Dragons, and Talking to Dragons. Not sure of the names and order but it's something like that.