Girls play the harp,boys play the electric guitar!! It may be in our nature!
In: Electric guitars, Rocking in the free world Friday Apr 11,2008
BBC News today featured an article called Why don’t girls play guitar?
Let’s ignore the fact that it is a “journal style” headline, and some girls do play the guitar, and some of them actually kick ass, if you think about Jennifer Batten, for ex, (she was always an icon to me, from this point of view, because indeed, girls do play the guitar but how many play solo electric guitar? At that level, I mean!)
So, this post is not actually about Jennifer Batten, even if I proposed to myself to cover something about her, soon, but about the preferences that boys and girl have when it comes to picking up a musical instrument.
Here’s what the study that BBC uses says when it comes to learning an instrument:
Boys play:
- electric guitar 81%
- bass guitar 81%
- tuba 77%
- kit drums 75%
- trombone 71%
This sounds like a pretty decent rock band. What are the tuba and trombone doing there?!!
Girls play:
- harp 90%
- flute 89%
- voice 80%
- fife/piccolo 79%
- oboe 78%
Well, it may be related to social preconceptions, or just to the fact that there are some physical constraints here, such as a girl having trouble playing tuba due to dimensions, or just about the fact that being a girl may be associated to being softer, quieter, nicer, AND NOT PLAYING THE DAMN LOUD, METAL GUITAR!!!
Later edit: can it be for real that 90% of the girls play harp? I ask this because I don’t know any girl in my relatively close social neighborhood who play the harp. Actually I don’t think I know any girl who play harp while I know a girl here who plays bass guitar in a rock band.
Hmm, so, how many girls do you know playing an electric guitar and how many playing the harp?
- Tags: Jennifer Batten
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11 Responses to “Girls play the harp,boys play the electric guitar!! It may be in our nature!”
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Ovidiu OprescuRomania, 31 years
Playing the guitar since 17 and enjoying every moment of it!
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eric
April 11th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
I may have a bit of an identity crisis here…sure I play the electric guitar, but I also play the harp, and the very first instrument I learned to play was the flute.
Ovidiu
April 11th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
OK for the flute, Eirc
How did you get to learn to play the harp?
Sammy
April 14th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
I’m not sure what those percentages actually represent, but if they are the percentage of kids who play each instrument, then there is a huge overlap - lots of people playing multiple instruments. I think the numbers are incorrect or there needs to be further explanation of the results.
Ovidiu
April 14th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Hmm, Sammy, honestly I have never thought about it but you are right, seems that some kids play all the instruments
GLW
April 15th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
I don’t think it’s saying 90% of girls play the harp, but that out of the harp players polled, 90% were girls.
Sammy
April 15th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
GLW, I think you figured it out.
Ovidiu
April 15th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
GLW, I think it is the best interpretation, I was starting to think the info is not right.
eric
April 17th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
It’s been a few days..
I started playing the Flute when I was 7 or 8. I wanted to be justlike Ian Anderson. Back then, they taught music in schools.
I picked up the harp about 2 years ago. I’m one of those people that say “I’d love to learn to play the harp”.
One month I got a rather large commission check, two days later I bought the harp, and the rest is just practice.
Frankly I’m not all that great, I consider myself to be an adequate “Rhythm Harp” player… but it does make a great conversation piece in the living room.
Ovidiu
April 17th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
I have never thought about playing the harp. If I wouldn’t play the guitar I would have played sax or drums. By the way, I have no idea…strings on harp must be changed right? Like with the guitar?
eric
April 18th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Funny you should mention the sax. I played the sax all thru high school. it was the only instrument I ever sold. BIG MISTAKE. I wish I had that thing back many times over.
As for changing harp strings it is necessary, but not something that is done all too often. in nearly 2 years, I have yet to change the strings. A set of 26 strings can run between $60 to $90 U.S. Nylon strings are anchored using a “Harpers Knot” and fortunately I have a string manufacturer here locally.
If you ever get the chance, you should sit down at one. It’s an amazingly simple instrument with an elegant sound.
Ovidiu
April 18th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
I have never played it, but it always had a nice effect on me. As for the harp, frankly I don’t know anybody owning one around me, but how about it, it already made a nice “living room chat” subject