When I was small, I had no greater wish in the world than to become a famous jazz musician. (Also an Olympic Figure Skater, but that’s for a later blog topic.) Each of the countless times I mentioned it, I always received the same response from my father: “Alright, Buddy. But you can’t play any of the metal ones; those are for boys only.”
Well thanks, Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie, for all your wonderful trumpet influence, but I am going to go throw my dreams in a garbage disposal, now, because I have breasts.
In actuality, the trumpet was never my instrument of choice. Neither was the trombone, so my dreams were relatively safe. I believed I was destined for greatness through the glories of the tenor saxophone. But I would like for you to hop over to Google Images and do a search for “Jazz Tenor Saxophonist.” Do you see any women?
(Page 10 is the first. She’s playing a clarinet.)
Anyway, my dreams of being a jazz saxophonist were stomped, but not by the Gender Dinosaur; however, this utterance made by my Dear-Old-Dad drew my attention to the very distinct gender barriers withholding one sex from choosing an instrument that is too “this” or too “that.”
In middle school, this became very evident when I made up precisely 50% of the female population in our brass/percussion class. At least I played horn, an asexual instrument; the poor girl that played the trombone was heavily teased. Likewise, in the woodwind class, there were a grand total of zero (0) male flute players and three clarinet boys, who also became subjects of torment. The asexual section in the woodwind family, the saxophones, were mostly made up of boys who liked to pick on girls.
Eventually these barriers began to blur as clarinets turned to trumpets and saxes turned to euphoniums, but, for the most part, they followed my peers and me throughout the entirety of both middle and high school. It would seem, to this female hornist, that these barriers are still following us today. This is made evident by the amount of money Converse, our fine college of women, spends on outside-hire musicians for each concert the Converse Symphony Orchestra and the Converse Wind Ensemble put on. What sections do these fine ensembles need to cover? Brass. Brass. Brass. Especially trombone, euphonium, and tuba seeing as zero (0) are currently enrolled in the PSoM.
It is my deduction that the specific genders placed on instruments reflect the male and female voice. High pitch : Female Player :: Low Pitch : Male Player. This theory, however, has one exception: the trumpet.
But really kids, which gender lives a loud and obnoxious existence?
Problem Solved.
:)
Erica, Erica, Erica, I LOVED this blog! You are too funny. You and I have had much of the same experiences in band class. We both feel that the saxophone is basically the meeting ground of boys of girls in band. And thanks for your musings on the wind ensemble at Converse. I hadn't put much thought into the lack of Converse low brass players. It saddens me that the gender divide has transferred to this women-only atmosphere. :)
ReplyDeleteI think it's really interesting that you've had such a gender-divided experience in your band. My good friend Jess is a saxophonist and was drum major of our school band. Her sister is now the drum major, and she plays the trumpet. We also had a girl who played the tuba, a couple of guys who played the flute, and both the euphoniums were played by girls. I wonder why there's such a difference? And I'm glad you became a brass player. :)
ReplyDeleteI experienced the same thing in my middle and high schools. If a guy played flute that apparently meant that they were gay. I still think that is a greatly flawed assumption. Like you, I think that the female gender also plays a role in why undergraduate students in the PSoM rarely play a brass instrument. I'm glad you're a female brass player. I think that is very awesome!
ReplyDeleteA few random thoughts:
ReplyDelete1. I was the only girl in my 1st high school jazz band.
2. One of my best friends played Tenor Sax in my 2nd high school jazz band, and her name is Shelley.
3. We once had enough brass students at Converse that we had an actual trombone choir.
4. It may happen again.