Music and Gender

Whether I would admit it or not, Music is heavily influenced by gender. I have noticed that there are a lot more males playing brass instruments than females (Duh). Oddly enough, In high school the entire trumpet section (9 people) was made up of eight girls and myself. This was a very rare instance. I also noticed that when girls play brass instruments, they don't always enjoy playing in the same styles that many males enjoy. Generally speaking, high school boys tend to enjoy playing loud powerful music where girls tend to be more lyrical. I don't know if this is the trend in most high schools but it sure seemed like it was at old C'field.

At Limestone the music department (instrumentalist) was heavily dominated by boys. I'm not really sure why it was this way but it was. Jazz band was very exciting there. The Jazz band was nothing but boys most years. I always believed that female musicians would add so much character to our ensembles.

I think it's interesting that I am achieving a Graduate degree at a school that's primarily for girls. It seems a little strange at times but at the end of the day Converse is simply awesome. A Converse College I get to feel like a true individual.and ounce again I am playing in a trumpet section with all girls.

I would also note that Converse College may have some productions related to gender. Maybe I'm going out on a limb here but perhaps the lack of brass players is why we don't have a Jazz Band. Also, we don't have a great deal of brass ensembles except the trumpet quartet that we just started. Could this be attributed to having a primarily female program? As a whole, the department seems to be steered toward a classical setting than a Jazz or Commercial setting. I would say that gender has played a major role in our musical output.