In order to understand the significance of being a female brass player, one must understand that at times it seems as though there are instruments that are typically attributed to guys, and instruments that are likewise attributed to girls. Now, I’m not being sexist. Back in the day, there were hardly any female brass players. Thankfully, now we’re starting to show up more and there are more female brass performers and teachers than ever before. However, you can walk into any 6th grade band class and you see most girls playing woodwind instruments and most boys playing brass instruments. I haven’t figured out this mystery. It's most likely due to how things have always been done in the past. Girls played the flute, clarinet, violin and piano while boys played trumpet, trombone, tuba and string bass. But thank goodness a girl along the way realized she could easily play whatever she wanted even if it was a “guy” instrument and play it just as well or even ten times better. Well, whoever she was I’d like to thank her. So as a female trumpet player I’d like to share some of the things I’ve experienced.
You’re one of the guys. Being the only girl or one of the only girls means you will have a lot of guy friends throughout the years. From the awkward middle school guys who make sex jokes during rehearsal to the slightly less awkward high school guys who still make sex jokes, they’ll be some of your best friends. You’ll probably become the center of their jokes and teasing. You may even end up dating a guy in your section or a brass guy from another section. You spend a lot of time with these guys so it’s not surprising when this happens. Whether or not that works out is a story on its own. Also, because it’s probably just you and one or two other girls in your section, you’ll become pretty close to them. Trumpet girl parties were an annual thing for me and it was where I made some of my best friends in high school. It’s like when you go to a party with a friend and they’re the only one you know so you stick with them.
Having guy friends in the section is cool but it’s awesome to have that strong bond with the other girl brass players! You’re also pretty much the “mom” of the section, especially for the younger members. Whenever someone needs medicine, valve oil, tissue, sunscreen, an extra pair of marching gloves, clothes, or basically anything else needed for concert or marching band they come to you. Basically you’re the caretaker, you keep up with everyone and make sure no one is close to being kicked out of the band (which I had to do multiple times). Fortunately, I haven’t really come across anyone who thinks that because I’m a girl I can’t play the trumpet as well or gives me weird looks when I walk into an audition. However, I’ve heard stories and had friends with similar experiences. I love being a brass girl and love everything I’ve experienced because of it, and I just have to say brass girls are pretty much the best.
