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Klarinet Archive - Posting 000007.txt from 1995/08

From: "Sydney R. Polk" <jazzman@-----.NET>
Subj: Gender tendencies for instruments
Date: Tue, 1 Aug 1995 14:08:06 -0400

>From what I have observed in bands:

- Flute and soprano clarinet players are overwhelmingly women. Clarinet
players are more evenly divided (about 3:2), but flute seems to be
about 10:1 female/male
- Most alto and tenor sax players are male. What is interesting to
me (since I am a bari player primarily) is that most bari players
I have run accross have been female - women who started on clarinet,
moved to bass clarinet and bari sax later.
- Bass clarinet and the double reeds are about evenly split.
- The only brass instrument which women tend to play is French horn,
which is about evenly split between men and women.
- There are female percussionists, but they tend to play timpani
and mallets.
- In jazz bands, the only women at all tend to play piano, bass trombone,
or bari sax.
- It seems to me that in orchestras, a string section has a good split of
genders. I feel that the reason is that string players are in general
more anonymous than other members of the orchestra, but I don't know.

These are all extremely subjective observations. Flame away.

Syd Polk