Instrument choice of fifth grade boys and girls aural and visual preference based on presentation mode

Abstract

The general purpose of this research was to determine if a lesson including gender will influence the instrument selection process of fifth grade children. Subjects were two homogeneous groups of fifth grade students from Miami, Florida. Each group received a lesson concerning five acoustic musical instruments: the clarinet, flute, saxophone, trumpet, and drums with photos and music excerpts.The control group did not receive a gender lecture nor did the photographs depict anyone playing the instrument. Overwhelmingly, drums were the instrument of choice in both groups. As a result a second experiment was designed to replicate experiment 1, but drums were removed from the choices and the trombone was substituted as a "male' instrument.