I've only met about 10 female trombonists in my entire life... it strikes me as a bit odd, because I don't think it's *that* masculine an instrument... but I've found girls tend to play trumpet or horn if they play brass... does anyone have any thoughts on this?

(I was going to take up the trombone... but my arms weren't long enough, so I became a horn player instead.)

I teach 3 trombonists who are girls and also work professionally with an excellent trombonist. The top trombone of the BBC Symphony Orchestra (I think) is a woman.

I asked my work collegue why she chose trombone and she said "It was the sound of it" and that can appeal to boys as well as girls.

I always believe that to play a musical instrument well it has to be a part of you and your personality.

There are also a lot of female trombonists in the forces who hold their own with us blokes.

Thanks for the good question and I hope this answers it.

Andrew Ellis CT ABRSM
Band of the Parachute Regiment

QUOTE (cheeble @ Nov 24 2004, 05:32 PM)

I've only met about 10 female trombonists in my entire life... it strikes me as a bit odd, because I don't think it's *that* masculine an instrument... but I've found girls tend to play trumpet or horn if they play brass... does anyone have any thoughts on this?

When I first heard the Hallé Orchestra, in 1952, Maisie Ringham was their principal trombone. Their tympanist was Joyce Aldous.

Could it be because women are not wind-bags enough for the instrument?

Hmm I've just had a thought... most of the schools in my area offer tuition on instruments but I don't think my school's ever had a trombone teacher... we had a "brass" teacher a few years back who was a horn player but he left after there weren't any pupils left for him...

my friend (who is a girl) plays the trumpet..... there's an upper-sixth who plays trumpet as well.... and one of the younger girls plays french horn....

QUOTE (liebe_klavier @ Nov 27 2004, 03:20 PM)

my friend (who is a girl) plays the trumpet..... there's an upper-sixth who plays trumpet as well.... and one of the younger girls plays french horn....

Precisely my point - girls tend to play trumpet and horn; at my all-girls school we have 4 French horn players, one tenor horn player and 3 trumpeters.

out of three trombones in my music centre's top (i.e. post grade 5) orchestra, the principal is a girl

but the vast majority of the beginner and intermediate trombones are boys.

might have something to do with the lack of female pro trombonists.

altho there is a trombone quartet of ladies called Bones Apart. and in a brass ten group that graduated from one of the london royal colleges has all femlae trombones (4) and horns (2) in it.

QUOTE (cheeble @ Nov 24 2004, 05:32 PM)

I've only met about 10 female trombonists in my entire life... it strikes me as a bit odd, because I don't think it's *that* masculine an instrument...

I'm not sure Freud would agree with you on that one!

I know several female trombone players, in County youth orchestra 2 out of 3, including the principal are female! in fact, my friend who is female has just got a brand new bass trombone! hehe, its so cool!

I know about 9 femal trombonists, just the same number as male trombonists

Well, I'm a girl and I play trombone! I'm in an all-girls school and there is quite a lack of trombonists, though. Not sure why, they obviously all have bad taste!

I am in a mixed school and have been the only trombonist there for 5 years

I think all instruments have a particular gender which is asigned to them, like girls play flute and boys play tubas. Its a shame really. I was annoyed when the new tune a day books came out and they all now have photographs of either a young boy or girl on the front cover. I dont think that a girl playing a flute with her hair blowing in the wind is much of a selling point to potential male flautists... Anyway, we had three trombonists in our school and there may have been a couple more learning but never made it to be good enough to play in the Orchestra so I never knew - but I also went to an all girls school so seeing any male instrumentalist looked bizarre to me! We even had a sousophone player in the concert band and she was tiny!

Yes, gender assignation is silly. Harpists are meant to be female, but a while back one of the professional symphony orchestras had one who was male - and not a fotherington-tomas type but a balding French bloke. He eventually scuttled back to Paris, taking the orchestral manager's secretary with him, which I thought was quite classy.

Oh, and the best trombonist I know personally is a woman-type person.

A woman-type person???! Please, explain!

I worked in a hospital for a week for work experience and on the forms for patients under gender it had three boxes - male, female or other.

Take a look at this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHw8P8NnUvI

The group is called bonesapart

Maybe with the current trend for botox lips that could be a selling point for the trombone???

I am an adult learner and started the trombone last year. LOVE IT

I really think you are mistaken; there are lots of female trombone players has well has female tuba players. You might not see them has much maybe they are practicing more!!!

maybe......an a hump on the back too (consider some females will find holding a trombone a nightmare...heavy).

There are very few trombonists as it is! Apparently they're always on shortage! But I'd say I've seen 40% women out of all the ones I've seen. So it's not that bad!

there are a lot of stereotypical personas attached to instruments - for example flute is assoicated with girls, tuba with boys and the violin I think is unisex! So this makes it odd when there is a member of the 'wrong' ### playing that instrument!

It really isn't that heavy! I can't really think of many people at all who would have a problem with holding it!

It's heavy if you're used to holding a flute
But more seriously, my daughter at nine and a half didn't find it heavy so a grown woman certainly shouldn't.

in our school wind band we have 4 girl trumpeters and 1 boy, 1 male trombonist and 1 female, 2 female tenor horn players, and 2 male tuba players!

so ours is quite mixed and coming up from primary school this year are 2 female trumbone players so we will have 3 girls and 1 boy in the trombone section.