Music and Gender

Although the art of performing and composing music should not be related to gender. There are many evodince of how music and gender are related. Personally, I notices that there is a strong relationship between performing on certain instruments and gender. For Example, playing the Harp is considered effeminate in almost all the countries all over the world. Playing the percussion is considered masculen even if there are few exceptions. Personally, I had an experience with this issue that proved to me how gender and music eventhough they might be correlated, an instrument can be played by anyone regardless of gender or sex oriantation. It is actually a story that happened to one of my friends in high school. My friend Mahmud El Sheek was enrolled in the Cairo Conservatory in 1991. He was eight years old at the time, and he has a talent for piano playing. His talent was recognized from an early age by his beloved family that enrolled Mahmud to piano classes at the age of three. Durig his study at the Cairo Conservatory, Mahmud has shown a great ability to play the piano and he seemed to have a natural deep understanding for the classical music and its stylistic features. We grew up together dreaming of becoming pianists and establishing a career as concert pianisits. however, at the age of ninteen, Mahmud had an engery in his right arm that made him unable to play the piano for a year. He had to drop out of school for a year for recovery. During that time Mahmud was depressed ,and I tried to make it easy for him by suggesting that he would listen to as much classical music as he can, and it would make him feel better. Convenced by what I said, Mahmud started listening to classical music, not only music from the repertoire that he knows well, but the music for instruments that he never care to hear before. He started listening to music from the Harp litriture in which he had never heard. I remember that he told me ' I never thought that such instrument as the Harp would express so much'. One year after Mahmud recovered from his engury, he started taking Harp lessons, being influenced by the music that he has been listening to. After spending two years of Harp practicing and studying with the Conservatory 's teachers, Mahmud made a significant decission to change his major from Piano to Harp. Although at the time it caused a lot of controvercy beucase of how the instrument is considered effeminate, and there are rarley Males that play the instrument, Mahmud continoued his study in the Cairo Consevatory as a Harp player. when I asked him about whither it is hard for him to play the instrument in a masculen was like he would when playing piano, he answered by assuring me that he never felt uncomforable or intemidated by the instrument. Today Mahmud El Sheek is one of Egypt 's best harp players.