And Katie Thiroux, Nicki Parrott, Linda Oh.
I started playing music in a string music program in elementary school. Everybody I knew, a few years later, wanted to play an instrument, like our heroes the Stones, Beatles, John Coltrane, whatever...I'm not sure that younger people today share either of those experiences with my generation.
As for women, it's changing, but they have typically been more likely to get pregnant than men, and therefore busier with child rearing responsibilities. Strictly anecdotal, but symphony orchestras seem to be a major exception.
there's another disparity at play -- the number of people who answer questions, give advice, post questions or other media may simply skew to a personality type that may or may not be gender related. All the women in my family have no problem speaking up (my cousin is a moderator over at one of the classical guitar forums, for instance) and I'll toss in a comment here or there if something interests me. My-husband-the-guitar-player is a much less outspoken person, and while he'll "like" a post on Facebook, say, if it's someone he knows, i rarely see him actually type more than a line or two. I know that more people are on this site than are commenting on any given day -- so what you're looking at are the commentors as opposed to the entire universe of mandolin players or even that sliver who are on the Cafe.
But while there may be some question as to the gender and age of the posters, generally speaking they're more interested in what's being said than in who says it. Our younger members have as much to add as any of the hoary elders if we're comparing favorite musicians, which pick you prefer, whether you use coated strings and what brand and whether paying $10,000 or $100 for a mandolin is worth it. Also, as has been pointed out, people who are younger than, say, the average age of posters here on the cafe have different media they prefer and different time sucks than those of us who have a few miles on us. I know of places like Tik Tok but I'm not over there. My kids listen to pod casts. Me, I have the cafe. I also still read physical newspapers and own a dial phone. And while i'm retirement age these days, when I first picked up the mandolin I was just out of college. I put it away for 20 years as life interfered, but I picked it back up in my 40s. Mandolin has been a big part of my life for more than 25 years at this point, which means I'm 25 years older than I was when I regained my callouses.
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1920 Lyon & Healy bowlback
1923 Gibson A-1 snakehead
1952 Strad-o-lin
1983 Giannini ABSM1 bandolim
2009 Giannini GBSM3 bandolim
2011 Eastman MD305
Can't speak to the "women more busier with child rearing responsibilities" thing as I don't have kids, but when I put down the mandolin for a couple of years it was due to 1) starting a small business and it taking up my time and 2) becoming obsessed with jazz drumming and it taking up my time.
2018 Girouard Concert oval A
2015 JP "Whitechapel" tenor banjo
2018 Frank Tate tenor guitar
1969 Martin 00-18
my Youtube channel
Am I missing something? What difference does it make how old we are or whether we're male or female? (I refuse to further define that, political correctness notwithstanding. That's for another forum.) As far as I'm concerned, a mandolin picker is a mandolin picker, period.
David Hopkins
2001 Gibson F-5L mandolin
Breedlove Legacy FF mandolin; Breedlove Quartz FF mandolin
Gibson F-4 mandolin (1916); Blevins f-style Octave mandolin, 2018
McCormick Oval Sound Hole "Reinhardt" Mandolin
McCormick Solid Body F-Style Electric Mandolin; Slingerland Songster Guitar (c. 1939)
The older I get, the less tolerant I am of political correctness, incompetence and stupidity.
I do not remember where I saw this but, In the early 20th century, the majority of mandolin players were reported to be female.
Of my 9 great aunts, 7 played mandolin. I have two instruments from them.
I have no male relatives (current or otherwise) who play (ed) mandolin.
I began my interest in mandolin in 1961. Been on and off since then.
I note that in the reporting of age and mandolin there was no over 70 category; that unless I missed something.
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