Girls don't play guitar?

[karohemd]

BBC article

purplehez, uglybuffy, toripink, taimatsu et al, what say you?

Comments

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

They had several children on the BBC Breakfast this morning, including one girl trumpet player. They interviewed a bunch of kids in playgrounds and basically boys liked LOUD things and things they could hit, and low pitched instruments, while girls tended to go for lighter things, acoustic/classical guitar, high pitched instruments ... and piano and harp!

They asked the girl why she had picked trumpet when it seemed a boys instrument, and she said she played in her school's brass band, and it was an all girls school!

Of course these are just tendencies and not hard and fast rules (I played recorder, violin and acoustic guitar at school and I'm a bloke!) and certainly you see more male double bass and tuba players (though you do see a fair number of female cello players!)

But there are a fair few really good female electric guitar and electric bass players, and a few good female drummers, but I can easily believe that parents would be more likely to buy a drum kit for a boy than a girl.

[uglybuffy.livejournal.com]

Well, as someone pointed out, these are statistics and not a matter of opinion but I want to bat that fool who said "girls just don't look cool with guitars" into orbit, possibly using my bass. Grrr. Someone else pointed out that there are a lot of female bassists, and an Idler article wondered if that was because the bass is generally a supportive role rather than being in the limelight like a singer or lead guitarist. The person who commented that instruments were picked on a personality basis might have had a point, ie the bass is perfect for someone shy like me, and maybe girls are encouraged not to be loud or show off which is why they might be drawn to quieter instruments.

[belak-krin.livejournal.com]

Girls with guitars look hot - fact.

If pitch (of instrument) is a factor then perhaps people are looking to play something they can sing along to or that mirrors the accepted vocal range for their gender?

[caseytalk.livejournal.com]

Look in any orchestra and you'll see the women concentrated in the strings (but not bass) and in the woodwinds. I'm not sure why, but it is so. Most will tell you they chose the instrument themselves, too, and not that some one told them they had to.

I started out on violin as a kid. When my school's one viola player graduated, the teacher told all of us who played violin to raise our left hands. He then chose the one with the largest left hand (me) to play viola. I'm very glad he did -- I love it.

I also play guitar. At uni, I played electric guitar in a garage 'new wave' band that had a few club gigs in San Francisco. We weren't very good, though.

[taimatsu]

I learnt to play the flute from age 9-18. I was quite good (made it to grade 7 in lower 6th, chose not to do grade 8 the next year because of exams). I don't remember really choosing it for myself; my mother had some book about 'what musical instrument would suit your child' and while I wouldn't've been forced into it I was probably guided that way. I liked it and did a lot of ensemble playing at school.

However, when I got to 15 or so I discovered I really wanted to try the guitar. Not the electric guitar, the acoustic. At some point I heard and was fascinated with Rodriguez' Concerto d'Aranjuez (which has utterly amazing Spanish/classical guitar playing) - I loved it to the point of nicking my parents' cassette tape of it to play over and over. Happily, my uncle's old classical guitar had been discovered at my grandparents' house and I was given it, restrung, for my 15th birthday, along with some teach-yourself books.

I think the main draw was being able to play solo and still make a whole piece of music, with melody and harmony/chords. Playing the flute was frustrating because all you can do by yourself (and sound good) is a melody. (It's possible to play two notes at once on a flute by fingering one and humming another as you blow, but the resulting sound is very rough!) I had taken music theory exams, music GCSE and began music AS-level, all of which involves understanding chord patterns and progression, and there's just no scope for that on the flute. I also wanted to be able to sing and accompany myself.

I have now been playing for eleven years and have still never had a guitar lesson (though I've given some informal ones to other people). There are some things I can't do (barre chords!) and will have to get tuition when I can afford it to iron those out, but I'm generally happy with the way I play. I sing/play a lot for myself - it makes me happy - but I can also get a whole large campfire singing along if need be.

I am actually keen to get into electric at some point, probably an electro-acoustic, but I haven't the money. Unless I shamelessly pinch my middle brother's much neglected, half-broken electric guitar and spruce it up... (That's not the instrument he learned as a kid either - he got the saxophone, youngest brother got the clarinet. Neither really took to it. Youngest brother has taken up drums semi-seriously.)

[purpleheather.livejournal.com]

I can also get a whole large campfire singing along if need be.

*grins* I miss Lucy Campfire Singing

[ginasketch.livejournal.com]

Guitar is fun and had always been the instrument I was most drawn to.

[belaroo.livejournal.com]

I think there are also practical reasons - violins, flutes etc are lighter to carry, which is a consideration when carrying all the stuff you get to carry to school. Also hand size, if you have smaller hands you probably don't think a guitar or big wind instrument is going to be much fun to play. It's partly true, especially if you only have access to school instruments. There are guitars with necks suitable for all shapes and tastes, it would be a matter of going and trying loads of guitars which not all parents would know to do for their kids or that the kids knew it was possible.
Most harps would be too expensive for your average girl and if they could afford a harp, they could afford a big car for mummy to cart it round in.
I played Tenor Sax at school and cycled to school with it on my bike. I did over balance once and break my arm thanks to the big case.
I choose the Sax because I was a big lass and wanted something that complemented me and my identity. Most girls pick Alto Sax because their hands can't cope with the size and shape of a Tenor. I was also really into Madness and Japan (Mick Kahn played wicked sax) but mainly Madness inspired me to play Sax - we are talking 1981 here. My school sax teacher was a chain smoking jazz man called Mr Tripini, that wouldn't be happening now :)

[purpleheather.livejournal.com]

*nods* I have very small hands, and in school recorder lessons, my fingers didn't cover the holes, so my recorder squeaked. I remember that being a very humiliating experience, so never played another instrument willingly until I took up samba/African drumming about 12 years later, which I had to give up because it was giving me wrist pain.

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

I learned the flute, badly. My brother had lessons in piano and drums. I did his practice for him and now I've got the drum kit...but I spend too much time working, cleaning and making things to ever practice anything :(

[davegodfrey.livejournal.com]

I would like to point out that there are several all-girl metal bands Gallhammer are a good example.

I'm not sure why in mixed groups (where girls actually play rather than just sing) they tend to be keyboardists or bassists. Certainly a factor is stage presence. Maybe the girls are happy to let the blokes have their fun on stage. After all, what happens on stage need not have anything to do with how the band operates behind closed doors.

[renfield286.livejournal.com]

i know women who play guitar, i know a few that play bass too and put thier male counterparts to shame.

-=R286=-