Teenage Girls Rocking Out A Male-Dominated Music Scene 

*Phoebe Lazarin was a student in the College Now Introduction to Journalism Program at CCNY.

Estella Florez, 14, and her three friends had just escaped the the sudden downpour of rain by ducking into the closest space with indoor seating they could find. “Why the f— is there a river in the middle of Times Square?” she quipped, looking out the window of a restaurant. Florez and her friends, all teenage girls, are part of New York City Guitar School’s (NYCGS) summer camp in a Midtown Manhattan studio.  It offers two week summer sessions for teens interested in rock music—traditionally a male-dominated genre. 

In the program, bands of four to six people are formed based on their musical preferences, technical skill, and the instrument they play. At the end of the two week session, every group performs live to an audience of family and friends at a professional venue in Midtown. There are plenty of things the they love about the program, but Anya Madero, 15, put it quite simply. “I just love playing some music,” she said.

Before ducking in for shelter from the rain, it wasn’t hard to guess that this group of teen girls had just come from a rock camp. One had a guitar on her back, another sang,  and a third brought up a Beatles song while her friend was talking. It was also clear that after five hours of practicing the same four songs, everyone was feeling ​​slaphappy. 

In the restaurant, Alice Lane, 15, started listing her favorite parts of the program, but couldn’t finish her sentence without giggling. Across the table, her friends had their phone cameras out, taking 0.5 pictures of each other. Only one person had actually ordered food, meaning that they frequently reached over the table to steal another fry while talking. Amidst all of this, it was evident that every girl had a deep passion not only for music, but for the program as a whole. “I’ve met so many amazing friends, and I’m super close with these people,” Madero said, continuing on, “It’s nice to know that there’s so many people out there who like the same things as you”—a sentiment that was echoed by the others. Lane added that she’s found NYCGS to be a supportive environment, and that “everyone hypes you up.”

The positive environment the school has provided for these teen girls doesn’t change the fact that the rock scene is still very male dominated. Each girl said that they could remember a time when they were the only girl in a band. “I’ve had experiences where people don’t take me seriously, for sure,” Lane said, adding that she’s definitely spoken with guys who automatically think that they’re better than her. “Some of them are,” she laughed. “But it has nothing to do with my gender.” 

Alaina Browning, 16, said she’s never considered that, as a female drummer, she is in a male-dominated field. “That’s just never really occurred to me, but it definitely is,” she explained. Although it’s difficult to find exact demographics, polling estimates that only 10 percent of percussionists are female. Browning said that although previous bandmates had warmed up to her quickly, they were “a little hesitant at first, like they didn’t think I was gonna be good.” 

While the four are in all-girl bands, their teachers are mostly men. Out of the more than four dozen teachers, only 15 are women. Lane jokingly talked about her male teacher, who doubles as her band’s drummer. “We love our girl dads, so in touch with their feminism!” She also wasn’t hesitant to call out the teachers she hadn’t had as positive of experiences with, including one male substitute who she said,  “…told me I didn’t sound confident and that I was weak.” Other teachers, the four explain, aren’t like that. Madero highlighted her longtime guitar and vocal teacher, who she appreciates for understanding. She said he understood, “… just the fact that we need to be ourselves.”

Being in an all-female band, the young musicians explained, has been an empowering experience. “I feel like hanging out with girls is, like, awesome,” Lane said, all her friends chiming in to agree.

When asked about her favorite moment of camp so far, Browning replied, “we picked really freaking hard ass songs,” adding that “it was hard for all of us. And then there was this one moment where it all just got put together—we all played it correctly—and it was just like, ‘Oh my god, we did it.’” Florez jumped in immediately, saying that she kept hearing Browning’s band from the hallway. She put her hands together in a prayer-like motion and said, “You guys sound amazing!” The other girls echoed the compliment. 

Reflecting on the program as a whole, Lane talked about her first day at the camp the year before, noting, “for a good ten minutes, I was the only girl in the room.” She vividly recalled seeing another girl walk in, who ended up being in her band. “I just remember that I was excited,” she said, “like, oh, there’s other people like me.”