Do you have a thing for gorgeous guitar players, sexy saxophonists, or hot violinists – aka fit fiddlers? Does a potential date just pick up their instrument of choice and start playing and you are putty in their hands?
Are men who play guitar more attractive?
My friend Jim is inundated with offers. He is no Brad Pitt to look at, has the dress sense of Rolf Harris and dubious hygiene habits. His secret? He is a singer. All he has to do is pick up his bass, start playing and singing something – he can hold a tune – and suddenly he’s fighting the women off. They all seem to go fuzzy-eyed, start swaying and that’s it… he’s pulled.
There have been various studies on the subject. One in France investigated whether men with guitars were more attractive to women. A 20-year-old man approached 300 women in their 20s and early 30s while out shopping and after introducing himself, complimented the woman and asked for her phone number. He was either empty-handed, holding a sports bag, or holding a guitar case.
And how did it pan out? When the subject was carrying the guitar case, 31 per cent of the women he approached agreed to hand over their number, compared to 14 per cent when he was carrying nothing and nine per cent when he was carrying the sports bag.
In another study in Israel 100 single women were sent Facebook requests with a message that read: “I like your photo”. Half were sent a request by a man strumming a guitar, while the other half were sent a request from the same person – who was empty-handed.
Only 10 per cent accepted if he wasn’t holding a guitar while 28 per cent replied if he had his instrument in his hand.
So it’s pretty clear that women like a good musician but what do men think of female musicians?
One Direction’s Niall Horan said recently: “I want a girl who preferably plays the guitar or something. Girls who play instruments are very attractive and very cool so I wouldn’t mind that that.”
The same Israeli study was repeated with women sending out the friend requests but the response rate was the same as when she was holding the guitar as when she wasn’t, which would suggest that whether a girl plays an instrument doesn’t matter to men.
Hmm, we’re not so sure. What do you think? Do you find musicians sexy? Tell us @lovestruck
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