Music & Gender
Gender and its role in music have always interested me. Growing up, the first concert I saw was NEEDTOBREATHE. I was blown away by the drumset player and that’s when I knew I wanted to play drums. In the sixth grade band, I had a tough time picking between percussion and flute, and I was not allowed to play both. I weighed my options. I could play drums with a bunch of sixth grade boys, or I could play flute with all my girl friends. No brainer, right?
I struggled with this decision through middle and high school, unable to put to rest the idea of being a percussionist. Wando’s marching band program was rather intense, and by my senior year my health was deteriorating at a rate that forced me to either quit band or learn keys and join the front ensemble. I was a nervous wreck leaving my flute section of 22 girls and entering a section of 9 boys, especially considering my inability to actually play percussion. To my surprise, they welcomed me with open arms and I felt comfortable from the get go. Colsen, now one of my closest friends, helped me learn synth and the rest of the boys taught me how to play four mallets on marimba.
Below is a snippet from Wando's show at 2021 BOA Grand Nationals my senior year entitled "Cabinet of Curiosities". I'm on the left side of the screen, the only girl in the pit.
One day on the field, our drum set player was late. Someone cracked a joke, “Claire it would be so funny if you got up there and went crazy on the drumset right now”. That was when I decided it was time for me to learn drums.
Me my first week of learning drum fills in my garage
My new friends were astounded by how quickly I was picking up. I became the first wind player at Wando to join the percussion ensemble. I do think I broke a stereotype in the Wando band that year surrounding female percussionists.
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It was a delight to watch the clips of marching band, but It's cool to hear a story how you broke the gender mold in your school's front ensemble. We had only maybe two or three girls in our front ensemble.
ReplyDeleteI love that you were able to eventually learn percussion like you wanted. It is also so good that the percussion section at your school welcomed you in and were willing to help you learn.
ReplyDeleteI wish to see you go crazy on the drum set, you should do a drum and flute solo performance for a friday recital!
ReplyDeleteI think it's really cool that you were able to stay in marching band despite health issues, and even cooler that you got so much out of the new experience. One of my best friends from high school is a girl who does percussion; it was really fun to watch her grow into her role and even become section leader.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was great how the guys in the front ensemble accepted you in and taught you how to do all the things. One of my students from Woodruff was kind of in the same shoes as you. She chose, again like you, to rise to the challenge and go for it. This year was her senior year, this was her second year as percussion captain and this was her seventh year of being in marching band while also being a percussionist.
ReplyDeleteI also considered starting out in percussion in middle school. I still wanted to be in percussion even after middle school so I ended up joining a indoor percussion group. So I definitely relate to wanting to be in percussion.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy the timeline of drum progress here. It's funny to think how you started out not being allowed to play both flute and percussion in band but now you regularly get asked to play percussion for wind ensemble and orchestra.
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