Welcome to Gaia! ::

I'm nondescriminatory. If you can play, you can play.

ugh... I really really REALLY hate to say this. I have never seen a good girl drummer (no, not even from Kittie). waaaaiiittt.t.... waaaiiiittttt aminute........ hold on........!!!! CORRECTION. I lied. I have seen a very talented woman drummer, on the Modern Drummer Festival 2005 DVD. Her name is Sheila E. She has played with "Prince, Ringo Starr, Babyface, Mariah Carey, Phil Collins, Tito Puente, Celine Dion, George Duke, Whitney Houston, Quincy Jones, Kenny Loggins, Luciano Pavarotti, Lionel Richie, Narada Michael Walden, and Stevie Wonder." (Quote from the inner pamphlet).

I'm going to agree with Deb-Dub, though, because I have not seen any female drummers tearin' it up (besides the before mentioned). If you have some names, throw 'em out here.

Oh! Wait!! I lied again!!! In fact my Campus Top Band director at the University of Oregon is also an EXTREMELY talented percussionist. She recently played a Frank Zappa tribute concert, doing an experimental piece on the marimba (or vibraphone, I can't remember).

So that's two. Keep 'em comin.

There arent a lot of names in the biz, like littearlly people that play with famous people. Why? because...idk people are dumb. There are A LOT though in the local scene. and dare I say, the undiscovereds.

Sheila E is crazy good! Plus the chick drummers from Skillet and some other hard rock bands are very good, but you'd never know it because they never get the publicity that the guys do. Plus, have you ever seen drumcorps? They have chick drummers doing snare solos that blow peoples minds! Granted that guys usualy have the strength advantage, girls can be just as good as guys can and should get all the respect they deserve.

I really don't think drumming has anything to do with strength... at all. It's more about the development of the fast-twitch muscles in the wrists and fingers, which have very little to do with strength and lots to do with responsivity and speed. I would say 96% of drumming talent (including speed and endurance) comes from overcoming the mind, and the rest comes from practice and artistry. There's no reason girls would have any disadvantage, except for the fact that we are a male-dominated society, and more specifically a corporate male dominated society, in which we inhibit females from really strutting their stuff, percussion-wise. On the other hand, I checked out another girl drummer who was featured on VicFirth.com, and.... well she sucked. Here's another reason girls are doing bad. Because all of the sucky ones are getting publicity, while the good ones are hiding in the background, doing session-work and teaching at colleges. Just my two cents.

You all are so amazing. Honestly.

I've been so put-off from playing lately. I'm like, why bother practicing? Why keep going with lessons? I'm honestly not going to get anywhere.

If I was even in a band, I wouldn't want to be in some all-girl one just for the sake of it being all-girl. And even if I was the only female in a band, I'd still get treated like "oh it's just to make them look good", you know what I mean?

Like "oh it's just that stupid 'GIRL POWER' stuff..." is what people will say.

And honestly I don't think I'll ever get anywhere. I don't even know why I bother, still. While there are some open-minded people out there like you guys, I don't think there's every going to be getting past that stereotype. Ever. Think of all the famous female musicians you know. Are they known for being GOOD musicians? Possibly, but most likely not. They're known for being FEMALE MUSICIANS...

I just still don't know why I bother because I'm never going to get anywhere, or do anything, because people will always have those prejudices.

Damn, I think I'm about to cry.

Well, do you enjoy playing? That should be your driving force, not whether you're going to "make it" or not. The best music comes from those who have a passion for their playing.