Gender and Musical Instruments

I was reading this BBC article called “Why Don’t Girls Play Guitar?” and snickering as I read the list of instruments by gender preference (see below).

When my family moved to a school where they had band instead of symphony (I played violin but desperately wanted to play cello), my order of preference for instruments was:

Trombone
Trumpet
Saxophone
French Horn
Oboe

Guess what instrument my parents forced me to play? The flute. How…girly. I wound up playing piccolo because I was usually principal flautist.

FOR THE BOYS…
electric guitar 81%
bass guitar 81%
tuba 77%
kit drums 75%
trombone 71%

…AND THE GIRLS…
harp 90%
flute 89%
voice 80%
fife/piccolo 79%
oboe 78%

…AND FOR BOTH
African drums
French horn
cornet
saxophone
tenor horn

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