Why don't girls play guitar?By Tom Geoghegan
BBC News MagazineWhen schoolchildren pick a musical instrument to learn, they are too often influenced by gender stereotypes, says a report. So why don't boys like the flute or girls play the guitar?
Crash, bang, thump!
When a child utters the words "I want to play the drums", even the most musically-minded parent's heart must sink a little at the thought of all that, well, noise.
But the more peaceful households are those with girls because they prefer the harp or flute while boys go for electric guitar and drums, according to a report by the Institute of Education.
FOR THE BOYS...
electric guitar 81%
bass guitar 81%
tuba 77%
kit drums 75%
trombone 71%
Many instruments learnt in schools are dominated by one sex or the other, says the study which examined the provision of music for five to 16-year-olds in every local authority in England and Wales.
Only one in 10 school harpists and flautists are male, while the electric and bass guitars are enjoyed overwhelmingly by boys.
There are many reasons why strides made in bringing equality to other areas, such as school sports, have not reached the music room, says Professor Sue Hallam, co-author of the report.
...AND THE GIRLS...
harp 90%
flute 89%
voice 80%
fife/piccolo 79%
oboe 78%
"I think that over a long period of time, these kinds of ideas about what is suitable for children to play, or adults to play, have been around for so long we've internalised it," she says.
"So when a child says 'I want to play this instrument', we're thinking of a particular gender."
That does not mean adults are saying 'That's unsuitable' but they might look surprised or even horrified, and give off signals they are not aware of, she says.
...AND FOR BOTH
African drums
French horn
cornet
saxophone
tenor horn
The size of the instrument (bigger, male), its pitch (higher, female) and the physical characteristics needed to play it could be partly responsible.
Another factor may be that brass instruments and drums have long been used militarily and therefore are associated with war.
"I don't think it's terribly logical because if you talk about size being a factor, you have the harp, one of the largest instruments, dominated by girls.
"So yes, the pitch of the instrument, how heavy it is to carry, possibly what it looks like, and traditions that go back centuries and which we just don't think about are factors. It's so ingrained in us, we don't realise we're doing it."
Peer pressure
The report warns some pupils fear being bullied by picking the "wrong" instrument, and it suggests schools introduce single-sex bands to force both sexes to try other instruments.
Do boys and girls have different biological preferences? Only this week scientists in the US who worked on monkeys concluded boys have a basic predisposition for masculine toys.
But Victoria Rowe, who has completed a PhD on gender in music, says children don't develop a firm idea about "male" and "female" instruments until about six years old.
Some research suggests boys prefer "cool" instruments while leaving classical music to the girls.
"This may be connected with boys liking to pick up their music in social and informal ways, learning by picking up tips from their peers, rather than by attending weekly lessons with a teacher.
"Certainly it's likely that peer pressure is responsible for many of the instrument choices made by boys and girls.
"And it's somehow easier for a girl to cross over into 'boys' territory and play a trumpet than for a boy to take up the flute."
The report says girls are more open to taking "male" instruments as they get older, and the fact that some of the world's leading performers buck the trend suggests there is much more fluidity in the professional world.
Convenience
Sir James Galway had already tried the tin whistle and violin when aged nine or 10 he took up the instrument which later earned him a global reputation.
"My granddad played the flute, my dad played the flute, my uncle played the flute, who learnt from his granddad and taught me," he says. "Everyone in the street played the flute."
Being brought up in a Protestant Belfast neighbourhood, where bands are part of the community, Sir James' upbringing was not typical of many in Britain.
Most flute bands had no women in them but his, the 39th Old Boys Flute Band, was one of the first to include girls.
So no-one batted an eyelid when he followed in his father's footsteps. But he thinks the reason why so many girls today play the flute is purely physical.
"For girls it's much easier to carry the flute than it is to carry the euphonium or the tuba. It's just a thing of convenience. Little girls play the flute and sometimes they go on to be big girls who play the flute."
It's not an issue among professional musicians, he says, and men occupy first flute roles in leading orchestras like the New York Philharmonic.
But it's a different story in the otherwise more enlightened world of pop, says All About Eve bass guitarist and lead singer Julianne Regan, where gender stereotyping still holds sway. The electric guitar is still seen as a male instrument, despite great exponents in recent years like Nancy Wilson of Heart and Charlotte Hatherley of Ash, she says.
Given a Woolworths electric guitar by a male cousin when aged 15, Regan was forced to teach herself.
"There was no opportunity to learn anything other than traditional orchestral instruments at school and so I muddled along on my own and felt quite isolated as I went to an all-girl school and none of my peers seemed to have any interest in electric guitar.
"It seemed like a freakish thing for me to be interested in. I was quite popular at school and had a load of friends, but this was just seen as 'one of my little quirks'."
MOST POPULAR OVERALL
violin 19%
guitar (acoustic, electric or bass) 16.3%
flute 10%
clarinet 9%
keyboards 7%
trumpet 4.6%
piano 4.5%
drum kits 4.3%
Her guitar skills were only nurtured when she moved to London and joined a band.
Thirty years after Regan struggled to find support at school for her musical passion, there are more schoolchildren learning instruments than ever before, thanks in part to a new effort by councils to begin musical education at age seven.
The question is whether that will reinforce existing classroom prejudices or liberate future generations when first inspired to make music.
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