Gender has a very prevalent role in music these days, and it tends to be a male dominated industry. I have experienced these gender roles myself. During 7th grade, I was a part of my school’s concert band, as well as in freshman and sophomore year of high school. Looking back on my days in band, I noticed some things about gender roles, as far as who played what instrument or who was in a certain band (Certain bands being Jazz, Orchestra, Concert, and Wind Ensemble).
A typical school band/concert band is made up of three types of musical
instruments: brass, woodwind and percussion. Each category is comprised of many
different instruments.
The brass
section of the band is made up of instruments such as trumpets, trombones,
tubas and occasionally the French horn. A typical band will have a lot
of trumpets, which are usually supported by trombones, and only a few tubas and
French horns.
Woodwind instruments, in terms of concert band, include clarinets, flutes, saxophones and a few oboes and piccolos. Most concert bands have a large number of clarinets, flutes, and saxophones. They will usually have little to no oboes or piccolos.
The final category
in concert band is percussion. It includes snare drums, bass drums,
cymbals, xylophones, and sometimes even chimes.
Sex-stereotyping
of instruments definitely has an impact on what instruments students initially choose
in middle and high school. For example, when I was in middle school my parents
told me I needed to choose an instrument to play in school. I wanted to play
the trumpet but according to my parents, the trumpet was an instrument that girls
just did not play. So really, my only options were the clarinet or the flute. I
chose the flute.
Looking back at
my band years, I definitely see these sex-stereotypes when it comes to what gender
plays what instrument. In my concert band, most, if not all of the females played
a woodwind instrument. The only exception was the saxophone section, which was
fairly gender neutral. The brass section was male dominated. I’m pretty sure
there was only one female in that section, and she played the trumpet. In
percussion, there were mostly males, with the exception of two females, who
played the xylophone, triangle, tambourine, etc. They rarely played drums. Our
concert band was split up in two different classes. In my class, I would say
there was no more than 10 girls and a whole lot of guys.
“Particular instruments have been
found to be perceived as masculine (such as the trumpet, trombone, and
percussion instruments), feminine (such as the flute, violin, and piano), or
“gender-neutral,” (such as the saxophone and cello)” (Crowe 5). As you can probably
infer, the jazz band was made up of mostly males, while wind ensemble and orchestra
were comprised of mostly females.
However, over
the course of more recent years, band has become more inclusive. Even at my old
high school. Watching videos and looking at pictures of recent years, I definitely
see more females in jazz band and more males in the woodwind section of concert
band.
Here is a video of my concert band's Spring Concert! It is over an hour long so just watch as much as you like.
*I'm the third person in the second row on the right.*
Bibliography:
Berghammer, Julia, and Julia Berghammer. “#ChooseToChallenge: Four Ways That Gender Inequality Exists in the Music Industry.” ReVerb, 10 Mar. 2021, https://www.blog.levitt.org/2021/03/four-ways-gender-inequality-exists-music-industry/.
Crowe, Lindsay Benet. By Lindsay Benet Crowe - Ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu. Dec. 2010, https://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/AA/00/00/03/15/00001/LBCroweProjectInLieuofThesis.pdf.
Trajkovikj, Milan. “Gender Inequality in the Music Industry (2022) - Statistics and Thoughts.” Musician Wave, 11 Feb. 2022, https://www.musicianwave.com/gender-inequality-in-the-music-industry-statistics/.
Hey Estrella
ReplyDeleteI have not been part of any musical group with instruments, so today I learned something new about what instruments are used and what categories they fall into, thank you for the explanation :). Related to the other topic, it's amazing how gender roles still play a very important role in music. I went to Dorman High School and even though I wasn’t part of the orchestra or band, I remember seeing them during their practices or in presentations. And now that I look back on those memories, I can recall that there was a greater representation of males than females in these groups.
Having never been in band, I find your description of sex-stereotyped instruments very interesting. I've never really thought of an instrument as "manly" or "girly".
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear you weren't able to play trumpet due to the trumpet being a “masculine” instrument. In my opinion many older generations don't understand it doesn't matter and an instrument should not be looked at as if a girl should or shouldn't play it.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate you building on the topic from personal experience. It can be hard as a teen or preteen in school in band because of the gender based stereotypes- especially if you're looking at stepping outside of that social norm. I do not have much personal experience with this so it was nice to get an insider perspective, Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI think it is crazy that instruments are gender stereotyped. It is very true though. I played the drums during middle and high school. When I would tell people they would be like "a girl playing the drums that's so cool". It should just be normal and not gendered.
ReplyDelete