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One of my band mates and I were talking the other day and were wondering why women are underrepresented on certain instruments.
For instance, in the popular music world, there are very few female drummers. Also, although there are many women who play guitar, there are virtually no famous female guitarists who are admired by the public for their guitar skills. Most women I've seen who play guitar are singer-songwriters who gets more attention for their singing and their songs than their guitar playing. I have yet to hear the female equivalent of a Jimi Hendrix.
In the classical world, there are virtually no female professional conductors and famous composers. When I enrolled in a master's degree program in music composition, there were 20 men and only 2 women.
Pretty much the only instrument where women completely dominate is voice (well, and maybe harp as well). Anyone who's sung in a choir can testify that women almost always greatly outnumber men in this field.
It's really unfortunate that women seem to be so underrepresented in a lot of instruments. Does anyone have any idea why this might be?
I appreciate everyone giving some examples of good female musicians, but I didn't start this thread to discuss who are the best female instrumentalists.
The purpose of this thread is to discuss the reasons for why women are underrepresented on certain instruments such as drums.
Last edited by Thursday007; 07-14-2010 at 03:40 PM..
I appreciate everyone giving some examples of good female musicians, but I didn't start this thread to discuss who are the best female instrumentalists.
The purpose of this thread is to discuss the reasons for why women are underrepresented on certain instruments such as drums.
I don't belive I was arguing either way who was the best female musicians, simply presenting them. Some of these women do receive quite the recognition. To be honest I don't know even half the drummers in male bands I like.
Pretty much the only instrument where women completely dominate is voice (well, and maybe harp as well). Anyone who's sung in a choir can testify that women almost always greatly outnumber men in this field.
I don't know that I'd say they dominate, but women are pretty common in cello, flute, piano, and violin. In fact I've heard of guys who see flute as "feminine" and avoid it. And almost every theremin player I've heard is a woman. (Lydia Kavina, Pamelia Kurstin, Clara Rockmore, etc)
It is true there are some instruments where women are pretty rare. Women who play saxophone are pretty much always alto or soprano. Someone named Amy Lee is the only female tenor saxophonists I find, but it seemed like Peggy Gilbert did baritone or tenor. No women look remotely akin to Stan Getz or Sonny Rollins though. There are some notable female trumpeters, like Cynthia Robinson of Sly & the Family Stone, but mostly I think it's fair to say trumpet is heavily dominated by men. Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, etc were names in their own right in a way Cynthia Robinson maybe is not.
I'm not sure if this is a proper thing to say, but I think men are more likely to have strong upper bodies (I don't though understand) so possibly it's easier for them to carry instruments like tenor or baritone sax or tubas. For things like trumpet possibly some men have more lung capacity.
On things like electric guitar if it's male dominated I think that might be because its image is, to some extent, "masculine." I think there are women who play acoustic guitar who's voices really aren't that great, but who do play well.
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