I'm really glad you finally got him to taking his playing to the next level
Is rock and metal guitar a men’s world?
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I can see we'll probably never be able to see eye to eye on this, but I'm glad we can have a civil conversation and that I can still call you a friend. Keep rocking.
Let's put it this way. We all know someone who says they look like this or that fabulously beautiful person, and you can kinda see the resemblance, but in your friend - the pieces just don't add up in the same way and the friend is kind of a train wreck.Hey, I get compared to Ed sheeran a bunch in the past. You calling me ugly now?
You and the good Mr. Sheeran live in oppositeland there. He's the trainwreck who looks a little like you.
I have noticed that all the guitarists I look up to are all males and I can’t really even think of any female guitarists I like. I’m a huge fan of death metal and just really heavy in your face stuff and I haven’t found a single female guitarist who does that style. I’m a huge fan of children of bodom and thats the type of stuff I wanna play but yet again I haven’t seen any girls play that.
the main reason for that is because most woman aren’t into metal they are mainly into pop or what’s on the radio because it’s what they know and it’s shoved in their faces. I was raised listening to led zeppelin, ozzy and Queen and as I got older I discovered more metal on my own.
another big factor is looks sadly. You could be an amazing guitarist but if your not hot or the stereotypical pretty girl your going no where! Like their are some female guitarist who aren’t the greatest but made it cuz their sexy. I’m not gonna name people cuz I don’t wanna start shit haha
the main reason for that is because most woman aren’t into metal they are mainly into pop or what’s on the radio because it’s what they know and it’s shoved in their faces. I was raised listening to led zeppelin, ozzy and Queen and as I got older I discovered more metal on my own.
another big factor is looks sadly. You could be an amazing guitarist but if your not hot or the stereotypical pretty girl your going no where! Like their are some female guitarist who aren’t the greatest but made it cuz their sexy. I’m not gonna name people cuz I don’t wanna start shit haha
A point you made about growing up listening to certain artists speaks volumes. If you’re not exposed to certain types of music at a younger age it’s unlikely you’ll care for it later on. I’m much the same, my mom solely listened to rock music so it was mostly all I knew as a child. Many of my beloved bands/artists and genres of music are those of which I was exposed to very early on in life.
There was a girl on IG last year that would be right up your alley. I can't remember her name, and I haven't seen a post from her in a long time, but she played a lot of TDM type stuff, REALLY technical and tasty, and attractive but not Barbie AT ALL. She was awesome. I'll have to see if I can remember more about her and find her for you.
Yeah, this is pretty much what I think too. I didn't want it to come off as "women can't enjoy metal", not in the slightest. The reason why I got into metal is because of my older sister who played it all the time when I was little, haha!
It's just that there is a clear component to this music that makes men more drawn to it than women. Metal is like extreme sports of music. But for every Mike Tyson you have Ronda Rousey, so there's that.
Honestly, we can make a whole anthropological research about this, and I think it should be done because it's interesting.
One thing I noticed in my community (people of my age and my city) is that men are either going to listen to whatever they want and find enjoyable, or they're just going to listen to whatever GIRLS find enjoyable and go to the same clubs and parties (pre corona obviously, lol) as girls do, for obvious reasons. But girls listen to whatever is popular and is being served to them, for the most part.
I guarantee you, if there was a metal band that resonated with girls so much, and was a worldwide phenomenon, there would be a lot of men who are listening to them just because they can about it with girls. So the way to get metal bigger is by making it strike a chord with more girls, which is an oxymoron, because we've all pretty much agreed metal is a testostorone-influenced genre.
@Kat the metalhead - I found her! Juliana Wilson. I sent you a link in IG to her.
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𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐬𝐨𝐧
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Great discussion point!
The metal guitar scene certainly appears to be male dominated, but not exclusive, and I hope we see more female musicians break through in the future.
Growing up as a young metal head I was floored when I found out Jo Bench (bassist of Bolt Thrower) was female, it was something you just didn't see in metal, particularly in the more extreme end of bands. Sadly this hasn't really changed over time, the only exception that comes to mind is the all female band Kittie.
I have no doubt there are a bunch of great female guitarists playing in metal bands in clubs and bars all over, and hopefully we see more break into the mainstream in the future.
If the volume of female students we have here is an indicator, I have no doubt it is something we will see more of.
Check out https://youtube.com/c/ElenaVerrier plays in the Death Metal band Evulsion and https://youtube.com/c/JJsOneGirlBand guitarist in the band Oversense.
The metal guitar scene certainly appears to be male dominated, but not exclusive, and I hope we see more female musicians break through in the future.
Growing up as a young metal head I was floored when I found out Jo Bench (bassist of Bolt Thrower) was female, it was something you just didn't see in metal, particularly in the more extreme end of bands. Sadly this hasn't really changed over time, the only exception that comes to mind is the all female band Kittie.
I have no doubt there are a bunch of great female guitarists playing in metal bands in clubs and bars all over, and hopefully we see more break into the mainstream in the future.
If the volume of female students we have here is an indicator, I have no doubt it is something we will see more of.
Check out https://youtube.com/c/ElenaVerrier plays in the Death Metal band Evulsion and https://youtube.com/c/JJsOneGirlBand guitarist in the band Oversense.
Theres a lot of good points in the previous posts, I see a lot of women in the rock/metal scene to be honest, mainly as fans, why that does not translate to playing an instrument I dont know... But theyre there. And as someone said in rock and metal theres quite a few successful singers, Amy Lee, Lzzy Hale (plays guitar too), Sharon den Adel, Tarja, Cristina Scabbia, Hailey Williams etc etc
Alicia Vigil plays bass with Dragon Force and singer and bassist of Vigil of War too.
Maybe theres a lot more boys playing guitar as kids too, and that translates in more chances of being in a successful band in the future maybe.
But its nice to see that Nita Strauss have a signature model, Jen Majura is endorsed by Ibanez too, Nikki Stringfield have her own signature model with Schecter and Im sure theres a few more female guitarists in the same path.
About the looks I think it works both ways, I see my wifes eyes when she see's a picture of Syn or Spencer Charnas (Ice Nine Kills)
Alicia Vigil plays bass with Dragon Force and singer and bassist of Vigil of War too.
Maybe theres a lot more boys playing guitar as kids too, and that translates in more chances of being in a successful band in the future maybe.
But its nice to see that Nita Strauss have a signature model, Jen Majura is endorsed by Ibanez too, Nikki Stringfield have her own signature model with Schecter and Im sure theres a few more female guitarists in the same path.
About the looks I think it works both ways, I see my wifes eyes when she see's a picture of Syn or Spencer Charnas (Ice Nine Kills)
One of the wisest things I ever heard in my life is this gem from Howard Bloom - "if you want to know why, ask how."
Nobody has it easy in the music business. Why do people succeed in metal? Ask how. How people succeed in the metal business is by investing the time and taking the risks necessary.
Do women invest the time and take the risks in the way that men do?
Do women produce equal results for the time invested and risks taken?
The answer to the first is generally no, for many reasons.
It's hard to discuss the second question without risking offending people so I'll be blunt. A lot of things in life are easier if you're a young man in good health, preferably tall. It's not just about playing guitar, even surviving life on the road is notoriously hard. A lot of metal bands only made it because they toured and played live more than was healthy.
Men and women are different, they develop differently, they're treated differently, and they don't have the same mindset at the same age. A young man and a young woman aren't the same thing with different dangly bits.
Nobody has it easy in the music business. Why do people succeed in metal? Ask how. How people succeed in the metal business is by investing the time and taking the risks necessary.
Do women invest the time and take the risks in the way that men do?
Do women produce equal results for the time invested and risks taken?
The answer to the first is generally no, for many reasons.
It's hard to discuss the second question without risking offending people so I'll be blunt. A lot of things in life are easier if you're a young man in good health, preferably tall. It's not just about playing guitar, even surviving life on the road is notoriously hard. A lot of metal bands only made it because they toured and played live more than was healthy.
Men and women are different, they develop differently, they're treated differently, and they don't have the same mindset at the same age. A young man and a young woman aren't the same thing with different dangly bits.
A lot of interesting thoughts spoken here. One thing I can say as a grown up woman and a psychologist is that music preferences have nothing to do with testosterone. Did you know that metal and rock are proven to be effective to calm the excess of activity down in children with ADHD.
Music preference is actually related with sensory processing and emotion, and the way your brain registers and processes the vibration that your ears and your entire body is receiving and transforms them into deep emotions. The way we experience of music is totally individual and subjective. Where you feel rage, I can experiment a deep sense of happiness. But music is a social vicarious experience too, and that's when you and everyone around you in a concert feel that same strong energy of metal. But the audience in the opera experiment the same, believe it or not, even though you don't see people headbanging and a masculine majority there.
Another thing I can say is that music taste evolves over time. The older I get, the more into death metal I am, but I also like punk rock, hard rock, even some pop rock. And now we are lucky to have the music platforms that give us access easily to every kind of music.
About the looks, I think that someone who is hot obviously have more chances to catch people's attention, but it takes something else to be up on stage, some presence, some attitude to defend what you are playing there, and more important, some skills. Not everyone can do that even being the hottest person in the world. You need something else to be up there like saying "hey, I'm in the room and now you listen to me!!".
I remember my brother listening to Lita Ford and me asking "do you like her music?" and he answered "she's hot!". But for some reason he kept listening, what I mean is that if he didn't like her music it would have been enough for him to see her pictures, but she had something else too.
Maybe there's fewer female guitarists succeeding because of cultural stereotypes and prejudices and bullshit that women have been traditionally getting. That bullshit transforms easily into obstacles and fewer chances. I mean, when I was a kid 3 decades ago and people saw my looks and heard I liked metal, they looked at me weird because it didn't seem appropriate for a girl. Joan Jett was dismissed by a music teacher because she wanted to play rock guitar and he considered that women don't do that.
I used to hang out with some friends who played in a band. Sometimes they would have me and my other girl friends come and see them practice. I always showed my interest in guitars but none of them would teach me how to play a chord. They never were assholes to me, they kind of liked my interest, but just wanted some chicks around them, not girls playing guitars. If I had been a boy they would have probably told me to buy a guitar come over and play with them. Chances. I started learning when I was 44. If I had been a boy I would probably be playing since I was 16 or 18.
Luckily the metal scene is changing, you go to a festival and see more and more girls in the audience and more women musicians on stage. When I was 14 and I went to see my first rock concert, I was a minority there. So I keep my hopes up that in the future we will see more ladies rocking their guitars.
Music preference is actually related with sensory processing and emotion, and the way your brain registers and processes the vibration that your ears and your entire body is receiving and transforms them into deep emotions. The way we experience of music is totally individual and subjective. Where you feel rage, I can experiment a deep sense of happiness. But music is a social vicarious experience too, and that's when you and everyone around you in a concert feel that same strong energy of metal. But the audience in the opera experiment the same, believe it or not, even though you don't see people headbanging and a masculine majority there.
Another thing I can say is that music taste evolves over time. The older I get, the more into death metal I am, but I also like punk rock, hard rock, even some pop rock. And now we are lucky to have the music platforms that give us access easily to every kind of music.
About the looks, I think that someone who is hot obviously have more chances to catch people's attention, but it takes something else to be up on stage, some presence, some attitude to defend what you are playing there, and more important, some skills. Not everyone can do that even being the hottest person in the world. You need something else to be up there like saying "hey, I'm in the room and now you listen to me!!".
I remember my brother listening to Lita Ford and me asking "do you like her music?" and he answered "she's hot!". But for some reason he kept listening, what I mean is that if he didn't like her music it would have been enough for him to see her pictures, but she had something else too.
Maybe there's fewer female guitarists succeeding because of cultural stereotypes and prejudices and bullshit that women have been traditionally getting. That bullshit transforms easily into obstacles and fewer chances. I mean, when I was a kid 3 decades ago and people saw my looks and heard I liked metal, they looked at me weird because it didn't seem appropriate for a girl. Joan Jett was dismissed by a music teacher because she wanted to play rock guitar and he considered that women don't do that.
I used to hang out with some friends who played in a band. Sometimes they would have me and my other girl friends come and see them practice. I always showed my interest in guitars but none of them would teach me how to play a chord. They never were assholes to me, they kind of liked my interest, but just wanted some chicks around them, not girls playing guitars. If I had been a boy they would have probably told me to buy a guitar come over and play with them. Chances. I started learning when I was 44. If I had been a boy I would probably be playing since I was 16 or 18.
Luckily the metal scene is changing, you go to a festival and see more and more girls in the audience and more women musicians on stage. When I was 14 and I went to see my first rock concert, I was a minority there. So I keep my hopes up that in the future we will see more ladies rocking their guitars.
Luckily the world is changing. Hallelujah!!! What you describe is what happened back in the 80s. Young women this century do definitely have a different mindset. Now most of them aren't programmed to become mothers and leave their careers on behalf of their families or stuff like that. Also I guess that young men are changing too and don't think anymore that women HAVE TO.
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