 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Linus Travelli
Date: 2002-04-25 16:37
look at this article!!!! clarinet is a girl instrument! :(
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/DyeHard/dyehard.html
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Author: Chrissie
Date: 2002-04-25 16:45
Huh... funny, I'd never thought of clarinet as a biased instrument either way. I've always known about an equal number of men and women who play it...
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Author: William
Date: 2002-04-25 17:49
There is (unfortunately) a lot of truth in that artical. All through the course of my career as a band director/educator (1965-1999), There was always a noticable gendor influence in which instrument was choosen--although these sterotypes seemed to be declining towards my career end. While boys often chose "boys" instruments and girls chose "girls", there were always refreashing exceptions. I did have a number of female percussionsists (concert and set) and brass players (most often trumpet or horn). In fact, the best tubist I had during my thirty-year middle school position, was a girl--who was quite popular among her classmates and a straight-A top student. And althoght the females tended to pick flute, oboe and clarinet, my "best ever" clarinet student was a boy--and also very popular with his fellow classmates. In strings--which I also taught--the boys tended to play the cellos and basses, with the girls picking the viola or violin. But again, there were frequent exceptions--my best ever bass player was a girl, and one year we had a talented string quartet made up of boys. As I said initially, the gender influenced choices of musical instruments seemed to be less a factor in the 90's as I was nearing retirement, but unfortunately, the sterotypes still continue. It is more important that music--and the arts, in general--continue to be part of every schools curriculum and that every student have the opportunity to participate, regardless of race, gender, impairment or financial means. In these days of budget cuts, it is too often that music and art classes are first on the curriculum "chopping block." If this is one the agenda in your school district, please contact your school board officials, voice your opposition and help keep the music alive. OK, I'm off the soap box--Good (genderless) Clarineting!!!!!
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Author: ron b
Date: 2002-04-25 18:40
Good post, very well said, William. I couldn't open the above link but I agree with your observations.
Additionally, I've noticed that industrial arts, woodshop (cabinetmaking etc.), metal shop and horticulture seem to be at the top of budget-cut hit lists. So, not only do many young people leave high school these days with hardly a clue what a major scale is or where vegetables come from, they don't understand the purpose of a crescent wrench. It has nothing to do with gender.
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Author: FT
Date: 2002-04-25 18:44
Hey ron, here, you can read it:
[ Nice thought, but ...
No, you can't. Please, no stories in their entirety. Short excerpts are within bounds of the "fair use" clause in the US (what are short excerpts? There's no hard & fast rule on that, either ...); full stories are copyrighted and not allowed to be reprinted without permission.
Mark C., Webmaster]
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Author: Stéphane
Date: 2002-04-25 21:08
If you allow me that disgression from the original post, it is funny that some languages, such as French, are giving genders to "things" including instruments. I don't know if it has any impact on boys and girls choosing an instrument, but here is a short instrument "gender" list for your perusal:
Masculine gender in French: (where "a/the" translates into "un/le")
Piano
Violin
Viola
Cello
Oboe
Tuba
Horn
Bassoon
Saxophone
drum (singular)
etc.
Feminine gender in French: (where "a/the" translates into "une/la")
Clarinet
Trumpet
Flute
Bass
Harp
drums (plural, the one used for pop music)
etc.
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Author: Roman Eller
Date: 2002-04-25 21:28
I say that article, that is rude.
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Author: Suzanne
Date: 2002-04-25 21:30
Interesting--many of the gender specifications are different in German. (I'm too lazy to type it out)
(Though, clarinet and flute are also feminine.)
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Author: javier garcia
Date: 2002-04-25 21:47
Not all instruments genders match in spanish with french. For instance, clarinets and bass are masculine, tuba and viola are feminine
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Author: IHL
Date: 2002-04-26 00:58
On drums: I believe there is such a thing as a good drummer, the only reason they are stereotyped as thick, unmusical idiots is that so many boys starting off in music don't want to be seen as sissys (if you're worried about that, wtf are you doing in music class?) and go straight for the instrument they see as being the most 'cool', the percussions kit. What they don't realise is that the drums are a very difficult instrument to get right, involving a lot more than hitting something with a stick. You have to co-ordinate all four limbs into a complex rythm and not many are up to the task. Out of all the drummers in high school, I've only met one who was good at it. That's you, Reuben!
(not that he's ever going to read that)
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Author: Kim
Date: 2002-04-26 01:58
OK, that article makes the assumption that instuments are chosen strictly on the basis of cultural stereotypes. Come on! There are quite a few common sense differences between the sexes that would account for having different preferences. Hormonal differences, physical differences, etc. Obviously there are always going to be exceptions to certain gender preferences, whether we're talking about playing with trucks vs. dolls, or which instrument kids pick, but that doesn't mean that they don't exist.
The only thing that bothers me is when I see a disproportionate number of good jobs going to male flutists/clarinetists when statistically the odds are overwhelmingly against that happening, as most people that choose those instruments are female. (Incidentally, I'd also be disturbed if I saw most good trumpet/trombone jobs going to females, when it is males that primarily take up those instruments.)
There may be some real issues, but I think that this article fails to address them and just comes off (to me) as pure nonsense.
Kim
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Author: Chris Hill
Date: 2002-04-26 04:28
At my old high school, tuba has been considered a "girl's instrument" for the past 25 years, with approximately 80% of the tuba players being female. There were generally more boys playing flute than tuba. Where I now live, that stereotype is reversed.
Chris
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Author: graham
Date: 2002-04-26 12:28
Considering the woodwind section in my orchestra for the current season: the following are the numbers of females
Flutes: 1 out of 4
Oboes: 1 out of 3
Clarinets: 3 out of 4
Fags: 1 out of 3
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Author: George
Date: 2002-04-26 12:42
A year or so ago, I conducted a very crude survey of the klarinet list, asking about composition of clarinet sections in bands and orchestras that the members were familliar with. The results were not a sample which anyone would want to publish (too inconsistent, and I didn't really ask the right questions) but the general conclusion was that there was an age factor as it affects clarinets. Old guys like myself (over 60) remember about an even sex distribution of players in the bands of their youth, and this distribution persists for players of our age. Younger clarinet players in our current bands are most likely female. In other words, there may have been a shift in the bias from neutral to strongly female over the past 40 years or so. There is also some suggestion that this may vary from place to place.
There are enough examples of excellence in the playing of every instrument by persons of either sex to make me strongly doubt that there is any real physical, hormonal, or emotional basis to these choices.
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Author: Bryan
Date: 2002-04-28 22:49
most of the clarinets players in my class are female. i am a male and there is only one other in my class and we are the two best clarinetist in our class ( possibly musicians ) , and there are eighteen clarinet players in our class. not to offend the ladies. and also all the female percussionist are the best in my class.
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Author: diz
Date: 2002-04-28 23:14
Faggot - interesting term, literally "bundle of sticks".
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Author: Micaela
Date: 2002-04-29 01:57
How about this: my youth orchestra's woodwind section is entirely female and over two thirds female overall. My string chamber orchestra is all female except the two violas. Those guys just aren't pulling through in New York (don't even look at the chorus!).
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Author: lala
Date: 2002-05-02 09:35
Ur... what's wrong with being a tomboy or a sissy anyway?
No big deal!
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2002-05-02 10:18
No big deal, providing other kids, teachers, etc, do not make you life hell as a result.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2002-05-02 10:23
"fag" = bassoon player. Not to be confused with its other meaning - abbreviation for faggot - derogatory term for a homosexual male. Hence even more derogatory term for anybody else. Cruel word! Best left alone these days.
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