Gender Differences of Popular Music Production in Secondary Schools

Abstract

In this case study, the author inv estigated how students’ gender affected their participation in a secondary popular music class in which participants wrote and performed original music. Three same-gendered rock groups and two mixed-gendered rock groups were observ ed. Would students of different genders rehearse and compose differently? How would same-gendered processes compare to mixed-gendered processes? Research suggests that girls learn differently from boys and that gender—as distinct from sex—is formed in social env ironments. In research on popular music education, howev er, the participation of girls has been under-documented and under-theorized. This study found that boys and girls rehearsed and composed differently: Whereas the boys combined musical gestures and nonv erbal communication into a seamless sonic process, the girls separated talk and musical production. In the mixed-gendered groups, tensions arose because participants used different learning styles that members of the opposite gender misunderstood. Broadening popular music pedagogies to incorporate different practices is suggested.