ABSTRACT
Two issues confront the novitiate band: (1) who will play which instrument and (2) what kind of music to play. The first issue is not one that typically confronts male bands. Male musicians are more likely to be able to play an instrument before joining a band, or at least they attend the first practice with some clear idea of what instrument they are going to play. Women are much less likely to be able to play already. Quite a number of women I interviewed had never played any rock instrument before, and the sheer shortage of female musicians means that often a woman who turns up intending to play one instrument is entreated to play a completely different one. The lack of female bass players and drummers is the main problem.
