Women are Instrumental

A few years back, a listener of the show called up and made a request. He said he wanted to hear an instrumental song by a band made up exclusively (or at least primarily) of women.

We were stumped.

After much thought, we finally played "Take the Pain and Use It" by Bratmobile, which is 95% instrumental. (No verses, but it does repeat the title from time to time as a chorus. I didn't think of this song as a true instrumental at the time, but in hindsight, it's actually no less of an instrumental than, say, "Tequila" by the Champs, which is frequently counted among the ranks of the great instrumentals in rock and roll.)

Ever since then, this question has bugged me. What ARE the great instrumental songs by female musicians? Why are there so few of them? I hit the stacks to do some research and get to the bottom of this.

(Disclaimer part one: since our show focuses primarily on rock music, that's where I'm focusing my brunt of my research. I'm sure there are marvelous all-girl jazz quartets that exclusively perform instrumental numbers, but as instrumentals are more of a standard in jazz, I would argue that it lacks the same impact as instrumentals by all-girl bands in rock and roll. Disclaimer part two: I have an MA in Women's Studies, and spent the brunt of my time in grad school researching and writing about women in music. So allow me to nerd out for a few paragraphs.)

Historically, in the world of rock and roll, the men have far outnumbered the women. (Duh, that's why our show exists.) Of those women, there have been far more female vocalists than female instrumental musicians. Traditional constructions of gender in the western world connect masculinity with strength, rational critical thinking, technology, and the public/professional world. Femininity, however, has been traditionally associated with emotionality, physical frailness, an inextricable closeness to nature/innocence, and the private sphere of the home. While it was not uncommon for a woman of the 19th century to play an instrument such as piano in her home, in church, or as a means of instructing children, professional orchestras were made up exclusively of men, and the serious study of music restricted to same. When women eventually protested and gradually began to pursue the study and performance of music outside the home, the instruments available to them were few: the flute and acoustic guitar were acceptable because they were light, corresponded with the higher ranges of the female voice, and did not distort or strain the body or face. Percussion, low brass, and cello, on the other hand, were all seen as too heavy, requiring too much physical exertion, or ungainly for a woman to play. Furthermore, critics of the time doubted that any woman possessed the emotional self-control, physical endurance, or presence of mind necessary for the professional study and performance of music. This attitude perservered well into the 20th century, and while female instrumental musicians existed, they were few and far between (and frequently marginalized as gimmicks and/or ghettoized on a select few instruments). Heck, this attitude stubbornly perserveres to this very day, albeit to a less obvious extent... just look at the gender division along instrument lines in any high school band and you'll see what I mean.

So while women were long discouraged from becoming serious instrumental musicians, the flip side of the coin is that female singers have always been widely accepted and celebrated. A female vocalist in the classical sense (we're not talking about growly riot grrls here) supports stereotypes of femininity: the voice is a natural instrument (i.e. not manufactured by technology, nor requiring serious study for basic aptitude), singing is an obvious vehicle for emotional expression, and since there is no heavy lifting or unladylike distortion of the body, it puts the body on display as an object to be admired. When rock and roll came along, with the raw power of electrified instruments, the primal, sexualized beat, the sheer volume and energy... well, it was not a thing nice girls were supposed to DANCE to, much less learn how to play. The old gender biases of instrumentation perservered with electric guitar, bass, and drums, which were all overtly coded as masculine (if not straight up phallic) instruments. When women did make their presence known in rock and roll, it was overwhelmingly as vocalists, and has remained so to this day. (I'll allow that there are a lot of bands out there with female members, especially in the punk and indie world... but sit down and listen to any mainstream radio station. How many bands are made up of exclusively men? How many women are getting airplay? How many of those women are playing an instrument? What kind of music are these women playing, and what kind of music are the men playing?)

My point is this: traditionally, women have not been granted the same access to instrumental study as men. Mainstream rock and roll, despite slooooowly evolving gender equality, is still largely a boys' club, and gender biases still exist in regards to women as instrumental musicians. If one were to look at any of the gear magazines (Guitar World, Modern Drummer, etc.), nearly all the highly accomplished and lauded technical wizards featured are men. Or poll your friends, chances are the gearhead geek-types, the ones that spend hours in their bedrooms learning crazy hard metal solos, are going to be dudes. When women form bands, more often than not, it seems the point is that they formed a band in the first place, and/or they have something to say. (A friend of mine offered another perspective: he always thought that female voices were so pretty, they didn't need technical prowess on an instrument to underscore what they were saying. Men, on the other hand, had shitty voices and needed to express themselves through an instrument. Interesting point, but no excuse for not learning your scales, young lady.)

Despite all that, however, more and more women are forming bands, more and more girls are starting to play at a younger age, and more and more women are becoming technical wizards on their instruments. And yes, some of them even play instrumental songs. So I've started to compile a list of instrumentals by all-girl bands, which you can read below. This list is by no means exhaustive, so if you can think of any others, by all means, please leave a comment!

The Breeders - "Flipside"
The 5.6.7.8's - "Jane in the Jungle," "Road Runner," etc.
Luv'd Ones - "Scratchy"
ESG - "UFO," "Tiny Sticks, "Parking Lot Blues," "Chistelle," etc.
Heavens to Betsy - "Intermission 247"
Blevin Blectum - "Squeezed"
OOIOO - "tune"
The Josephine Wiggs Experience - "Downward Facing Dog," "Trieste," "Mr. B Goes Surfing," etc.
Ladies Who Lunch - "Gigantic"
All Girl Summer Fun Band - "Looking Into It"
Tori Amos - "All the Girls Hate Her"
Shonen Knife - "Milky Way"
Yoshimi and Yuka - "UMEgination," "KoRoKoKoRo'N Insects," etc.
Dara Puspita - "Bandung Selatan"