On Wednesday at orchestra, the bass player made an interesting comment: Basses are the only manly instruments (Die einzige männlich Instrument ist der Bass).
At first I thought he meant it’s because it’s a very low instrument and therefore has a ‘manly’ voice, or perhaps because very few women play bass. It turns out he made the statement because Bass is the only masculine instrument name in German (its definite article is ‘der’). Tuba has the same name – ‘der Bass,’ so technically two instruments are masculine. All the other instrument names are either feminine or neuter. Examples: die Geige, die Bratsche, die Flöte (the violin, the viola, the flute; feminine) or das Fagott (the bassoon; neuter).
So now you know. Bass is the only manly instrument!
