We examined whether timbre (instrument), pitch level, or both influence gender ratings of musical instruments. According to previous research, a variety of musical instruments are categorized or rated as masculine, neutral, or feminine in a relatively consistent way. Gender associations to musical instruments have been rather reliable across time and across participant populations. We investigated the gender ratings of nine musical instruments (three masculine, three neutral, and three feminine) each heard at low, medium, and high pitch levels within the playable range of each instrument. Both timbre and pitch level influenced participants' gender ratings. The effect of timbre is consistent with results of previous studies, further demonstrating that participants rate instruments fairly consistently. One novel finding is that pitch level also played a role in participants' gender ratings. The ratings of all instruments heard in low pitch levels were shifted in the masculine direction, and the ratings of all instruments heard in high pitch levels were shifted in the feminine direction. These results provide evidence for the notion that participants are influenced by associations to both timbre and pitch level when rating musical instruments on gender.

We used computer mouse tracking to investigate gender ratings of musical instruments in monolingual Spanish and English speakers. Musical instruments are tied to conceptual representations of gender. Consistent with previous research, English speakers rated the instruments male and female following these relatively stable conceptual representations, while Spanish speakers used grammar—in addition to their conceptual representations of gender—to perform their ratings. Interestingly, the responses of the Spanish speakers were influenced first by the grammatical information and 60 ms later by the conceptual representations. Measuring how participants' responses unfold over time provides novel information regarding the timing of grammatical gender.