Yankee Brooke
Sergeant Major
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2018
- Location
- Philly burbs
So you like guitars, huh? We all do. When you think of one, you probably conjure up images of Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, Slash, The Beatles, etc. Men playing everything from acoustic rock, to blues, country, rock n roll, all your favorites. They've been stereotyped as "rebellious" and played by every outcast, from your hippie pot smoking uncle, to some mohawked punk rocker, or some long haired white boy playing some overly aggressive and obnoxious heavy metal...but I digress.
They seem to have had a VERY different stereotype for our 1860's ancestors. They were primarily a "women's" instrument. Something you would pluck on at home, maybe while entertaining some guests or your family, but nothing more. It was one of the They seem to have had a VERY different stereotype for our 1860's ancestors. They were primarily a "women's" instrument. Something you would pluck on at home, maybe while entertaining some guests or your family, but nothing more. It was one of the few instruments considered proper for a woman to play.
Orchestral instruments were a big fat no!
Now the guitars of those days were way different, obviously, no electrics. No steel stringed acoustics either, those were invented in the early 20th century in order to be louder and cut through "the mix" when guitar started becoming more popular, and appearing in professional settings. The guitar was something similar to what we'd call a "classical," "Spanish," or "flamenco" guitar today. Small bodied, with animal gut strings(vs nylon typically found on those guitars today). They were not very loud, and so were not typically used in an orchestral setting. Usually only by themselves, at home, or perhaps in a smaller band, accompanying one other instrument.
I actually think the banjo was the "cool" instrument of the day, and served a role similar to guitar in our modern world. That is in almost every piece of music, played by a large number of people, including old timers and almost all rebellious youths, and readily available to those who wish to learn the instrument. But probably not for women, it seems all we were allowed was the guitar...
(The quote comes from here, btw): https://daily.jstor.org/at-first-the-guitar-was-a-womens-instrument/#:~:text=Men played professional, orchestral instruments,For critics, this meant women.&text=Even as it gained popularity,guitar as a lesser instrument.
They seem to have had a VERY different stereotype for our 1860's ancestors. They were primarily a "women's" instrument. Something you would pluck on at home, maybe while entertaining some guests or your family, but nothing more. It was one of the They seem to have had a VERY different stereotype for our 1860's ancestors. They were primarily a "women's" instrument. Something you would pluck on at home, maybe while entertaining some guests or your family, but nothing more. It was one of the few instruments considered proper for a woman to play.
Orchestral instruments were a big fat no!
In 1783, German philologist and composer Carl Ludwig Junker wrote an essay explaining exactly which instruments were proper for women to play. Unsurprisingly, he “issued a strict ban on women playing what he regarded as male instruments,” which were most of them, according to Stenstadvold. Men played professional, orchestral instruments, while the guitar was seen mainly as an instrument to be played at home, by amateurs. For critics, this meant women.
The guitar was good for a woman, Junker and others argued, because orchestral instruments “threatened the concept of her ‘natural’ subservient role and compromised her decorum,” Stenstadvold writes. Female musicians could keep their bodies in graceful, feminine poses while playing. Musically, the critics thought, the guitar was also a perfect instrument for women because it was made for “simple, unpretentious music, most of all in a subordinate role as an accompanying instrument.”
Now the guitars of those days were way different, obviously, no electrics. No steel stringed acoustics either, those were invented in the early 20th century in order to be louder and cut through "the mix" when guitar started becoming more popular, and appearing in professional settings. The guitar was something similar to what we'd call a "classical," "Spanish," or "flamenco" guitar today. Small bodied, with animal gut strings(vs nylon typically found on those guitars today). They were not very loud, and so were not typically used in an orchestral setting. Usually only by themselves, at home, or perhaps in a smaller band, accompanying one other instrument.
I actually think the banjo was the "cool" instrument of the day, and served a role similar to guitar in our modern world. That is in almost every piece of music, played by a large number of people, including old timers and almost all rebellious youths, and readily available to those who wish to learn the instrument. But probably not for women, it seems all we were allowed was the guitar...
(The quote comes from here, btw): https://daily.jstor.org/at-first-the-guitar-was-a-womens-instrument/#:~:text=Men played professional, orchestral instruments,For critics, this meant women.&text=Even as it gained popularity,guitar as a lesser instrument.