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Re: Clarinet male vs female dominated

Author: eac
Date: 2023-01-21 00:45

My first response was "let the kid play whatever he wants!" but thought I would describe the situation for fifth graders in my town where every kid plays an instrument (provided by the school district) for a year. It varies a bit among the beginner band teachers but they all expose all the kids to different instruments (strings included) before the kid chooses. One of my fellow clarinetists who teaches in the school district and plays in my community band actually takes about 4 weeks at the beginning of the school year to evaluate each child's physical build and embouchure and let them try mouthpieces for woodwinds (sterilizing plastic reeds for clarinets), all brass instruments,and percussion. She said some kids simply can't get a sound out a flute for example or just don't have large enough hands for given instrument but can find something they would like to play. She will start a kid on French horn if the kid wants even though it might be a very difficult instrument. She doesn't start kids on saxes since they are so loud and large but will transition them later. The only time she has experienced gender stereotyping was when parents of a girl questioned the kid's wanting to play trombone. She suggested the parents search for girl or women trombone players on YouTube and the girl happily played trombone. I think this teacher is an incredibly dedicated and talented person!

Liz Leckey

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