Why Music?

     I can’t count the times I would hear people ask me that question as I was growing up.  Everyone around me seemed to love music, but for me to choose music as a career just didn’t seem practical.

 “Music is for our enjoyment. Something you do as a hobby, not a career”

I would sometimes hear.  I was born with music in my blood.  I remember sitting under the piano listening to my mother play all styles, from gospel to Burt Bacharach.  My father would sit me and my sisters down at times and literally make us listen to music from Beethoven to Frank Sinatra.  At the time I couldn’t stand it, but today I realize how much of a blessing it was to have such a rich foundation. 

Creativity was the reason I went into music and the reason I still am.

     I believe we all were made to be creative in some sort of way. It's in our very souls. Creating seems to not only help us connect with ourselves, but connect with others.  I remember the first time I wrote a song I was 13 years old.  It was a gospel song, and I was so proud of it.  After that I began writing all kinds of music in high school, and that is when I decided I wanted to be a composer.  I always loved writing music, and people close to me would encourage me to do it.  Writing music helped me to discover who I was, and why I was here.  My mother would tell me she would pray for patience to not come downstairs and tell me to stop playing the piano at 1am in the morning. God bless her.

    I decided to study music composition in College, and when I finished with a B.M. in Composition, off to New York I went chasing my dream.  As crazy as it sounds we all have dreams & desires. Some of us choose to chase them, and some of us don’t.  I chose to chase mine.  I studied music, played music & wrote music in New York for over 15 years.  Just about every kind and style you can name.  I remember once my wife and I went to eat at an Indian restaurant in New York, and there were two Indian musicians playing. One was playing the sitar and the other tabla drums. It was awesome, so awesome I invited the tabla player to come and play jazz with me the following week.  Everyone was amazed and had never heard anything like that.  That is the beauty of music and creativity. You can try things that have never been done before, and if they work great. If they don’t, well at least you tried. :)

     Music has taken me all over the world.  Switzerland, France, London, Holland, Poland, even India.   In all my travels I discovered music is truly a universal language.  I could not communicate verbally with a musician in Poland, but could place my music in front of him and we communicated all day and all night.

 

So Why Music?  

    I hope I’ve answered that question for you now. Music has blessed my life and helped me become who I am.  My desire & passion is to teach and share the wonderful heritage music has blessed my life with, and continue writing music for a lifetime that hopefully will bless several lives after mine.


Gerald Trottman is a Worship Minister at Long Hollow Baptist Church, a music composer,  arranger & teacher, a husband and a father of two wonderful children.