Gender in Band

As a percussionist, I've personally seen the differences in genders and how they relate to music and choice in instrument. Back in the sixth grade, everybody that joined the band class had to try out for a couple instruments, and then the teacher would assign them to what instrument they could potentially do the best at. Even then, it was very rare to see any boys try out for flute or clarinet because they are small and delicate sounding, so they were thought to be girly. It was also rare to see any girls try out for percussion because they thought of drums as loud, masculine instruments. Because of this, almost all of the flutes and clarinets were girls, and almost all of the percussionists were boys. The thing is, no one really told us what instruments to try out for, we just went for whatever we thought was cool or interesting and it just happened. 

Even before I was in band, I still had music in my life. My sisters all took piano lessons when we were kids, and when my parents asked me if I wanted to join them, I told them I wanted to play drum set instead. When you look at stage bands, you mostly see only men playing drums, bass guitar, or electric guitar. When you look at keys, vocals, and acoustic guitar, you will see both men and women on these, but I always thought it was weird that there were not many women on the other instruments. Also, on the production and behind the scenes side of music, you never see women. I have only ever seen men do the sound wiring for stages, and I have only seen men operate the mixer in the back. I'm not really sure why, but no matter what area of music you look at, men tend lean towards the technical side of music, like drums and sound design, while women tend to lean towards the more artistic side of music, like singing. 

Another interesting difference in gender in music that I have noticed is the opposing strengths and weaknesses that men and women have in percussion. Since marching percussion usually takes a bit more physical strength and endurance, girls might have to try a bit harder to build up the physical strength that most boys have naturally. Therefore, marching percussion seems to come easier to most boys in high school and college. When it comes to the concert and soloist side of percussion, you often see girls doing a bit better than boys. Boys don't want to play with touch or pay attention to more delicate styles of playing, but instead want to compete to find out who can play the most notes the fastest. As you get older, the disparity evens out a bit. People mature, boys realize that you can play challenging music in concert settings, and girls grow enough to carry a drum comfortably and keep up with the pace of taller guys. This is not to say that girls can't march a drum, or that boys can't play concert music, they just might have to work a little bit harder to keep up with what comes naturally to others. 

For example: 

The best indoor percussion group in the world is about 70-80% male. The group is called Music City Mystique (btw I played there last year), and they had never had a woman on the drum line until last year. The physical expectations are extremely high, so it is often a little bit harder for women to keep up with the large step sizes of men, or the physicality of playing (marching percussion takes a lot of arm strength and men naturally have larger arms). I'm not saying that women can't play there, but in 2017, when they won world championships, there were only two women in the whole group.

Two examples of women in concert settings that I really like are Eriko Daimo playing the solo she arranged called "Kussi", and a percussion ensemble of the piece "Cold Light" with a women playing the solo marimba part. These are women that are just as good, if no better, than most men in their field.