hot bird shredding it up...

[MDV]

i disagree with that. look at violin virtuosos. almost all female. it's certainly not that they can't do it, or don't want to do it. it's also worth pointing out that there's a much bigger market for female singer-songwriter types than there is for guitar virtuosos (there's not a gigantic market for males either, but it's a lot bigger than there is for females)- i'm sure a lot might feel pushed towards it (much like the old advice in schools, "that's a good job for a girl"). self-fulfilling prophecy, behavioural confirmation, stereotype threat and all that.

EDIT: and don't even start me on how a lot of girls/women get treated if they walk into a guitar shop.

Perhaps, but the violin is very much unlike the guitar musically, tonally and culturally. I'm suggesting that the guitar is unapealing for *some* reason, I dont know what - perhaps that its innately more aggressive with delta function note attack and exponential decay, perhaps its the culturally prevelant male-dominated noisy testosterone laced nature of much of the music, perhaps its something else, perhaps its nothing to do with the instrument itself or the music and its just that most women prefer something else more - its not a can or cant game, its a like more or less and what you devote yourself to more.

Certainly I dont contest in the least that women can play musical instruments just as well as men, and thats sorta parta my point - its condescending that the poor lass is thought of as 'hot woman guitarist' not 'guitarist'.

[Frank]

yeah, wouldn't mind trading a few licks with her

what?

[_tom_]

Well since you asked Dave, heres my attempt at that solo from about a year ago, I don't do it properly because my hands cant stretch for the big shreddy bit and I'm not much of a shredder anyway :P

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRZNA8kqhLg

[gordiji]

tom , that's a v.good show too, pull that off in a club with a good tone and vols and everyone will be cheering.wish i
could do it :(.i think we've got too used to the guitar uberfreaks like vai which can be a little disheartening if used
as a benchmark.good playin' is good playin'

[dave_mc]

Perhaps, but the violin is very much unlike the guitar musically, tonally and culturally. I'm suggesting that the guitar is unapealing for *some* reason, I dont know what - perhaps that its innately more aggressive with delta function note attack and exponential decay, perhaps its the culturally prevelant male-dominated noisy testosterone laced nature of much of the music, perhaps its something else, perhaps its nothing to do with the instrument itself or the music and its just that most women prefer something else more - its not a can or cant game, its a like more or less and what you devote yourself to more.

Certainly I dont contest in the least that women can play musical instruments just as well as men, and thats sorta parta my point - its condescending that the poor lass is thought of as 'hot woman guitarist' not 'guitarist'.

ah ok, sure. EDIT: i wonder how much of it though is that women think it's too aggressive and masculine, or that they're told it's too aggressive and masculine?

that was a good shot at it too, tom :)

[Frank]

Well since you asked Dave, heres my attempt at that solo from about a year ago, I don't do it properly because my hands cant stretch for the big shreddy bit and I'm not much of a shredder anyway :P

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRZNA8kqhLg

that just reminded me why I disable text comments on all my youtube videos

[_tom_]

haha yeah, too many idiots on youtube.

[MDV]

Perhaps, but the violin is very much unlike the guitar musically, tonally and culturally. I'm suggesting that the guitar is unapealing for *some* reason, I dont know what - perhaps that its innately more aggressive with delta function note attack and exponential decay, perhaps its the culturally prevelant male-dominated noisy testosterone laced nature of much of the music, perhaps its something else, perhaps its nothing to do with the instrument itself or the music and its just that most women prefer something else more - its not a can or cant game, its a like more or less and what you devote yourself to more.

Certainly I dont contest in the least that women can play musical instruments just as well as men, and thats sorta parta my point - its condescending that the poor lass is thought of as 'hot woman guitarist' not 'guitarist'.

ah ok, sure. EDIT: i wonder how much of it though is that women think it's too aggressive and masculine, or that they're told it's too aggressive and masculine?

that was a good shot at it too, tom :)

:lol:

I dunno, but if I told most of the women I know that playing guitar is too aggressive and masculine for them, they'd be playing cannibal corpse riffs 6 months later to prove me wrong :lol:

[Philly Q]

Perhaps, but the violin is very much unlike the guitar musically, tonally and culturally. I'm suggesting that the guitar is unapealing for *some* reason, I dont know what - perhaps that its innately more aggressive with delta function note attack and exponential decay, perhaps its the culturally prevelant male-dominated noisy testosterone laced nature of much of the music, perhaps its something else, perhaps its nothing to do with the instrument itself or the music and its just that most women prefer something else more - its not a can or cant game, its a like more or less and what you devote yourself to more.

Certainly I dont contest in the least that women can play musical instruments just as well as men, and thats sorta parta my point - its condescending that the poor lass is thought of as 'hot woman guitarist' not 'guitarist'.

ah ok, sure. EDIT: i wonder how much of it though is that women think it's too aggressive and masculine, or that they're told it's too aggressive and masculine?

I think that it's simpler than that.  Playing guitar - especially playing guitar at a high technical level - is really quite a trainspotterish activity.  And women, on average, are a lot less trainspotterish than men.

 

[dave_mc]

i just don't buy that. i know plenty of women who are really into stuff, and also there's the whole fact that, in general, women get the short end of the stick (whether clearing up, cooking, etc) so they have less time and energy to be trainspotterish.

plus, playing guitar at a high level is no different from playing violin at a high level.

your friends must be feminists, mark. i know of plenty of women who would be the opposite.

[Philly Q]

plus, playing guitar at a high level is no different from playing violin at a high level.

True, but if you watch something like Young Musician of the Year those girls are uber-geeks!  :lol:

[nfe]

i just don't buy that. i know plenty of women who are really into stuff

Yeah, me too, but you can't argue against the overwhelming majority of "geeks" into any particular thing being men. Be it any particular music genre, film, television, comics, books, art, cooking, wine etc etc

Men have far more of a tendency to be obsessive about things than women.

[Lew]

hot birds not shredding it up http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtXr0pIRSg4&feature=related much more interesting  8)

[dave_mc]

i give up