Electric Guitar Lessons More Popular Than Violin Tuition

The BBC have release figures to show that the electric guitar has overtaken the violin in a list of most popular musical instruments for children to play. Some thirteen% of 5 to 17-year-olds play the electric guitar, compared with 12% for the violin. piano is the most popular instrument, played by 30% of the 1,726 children, from a report drawn up by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music.

The figures suggest a music boom – but poorer children may be missing out. Some 76% of children aged five to 14 told the researchers they knew how to play an instrument compared with 41% in 1999. Compared with 1999 there has been rise in instrumental learning an across the board, with increasing numbers of children playing a wider variety of instruments and some children playing two or more, suggests the report.

Back in 1999, the recorder was the most popular instrument among this age group, with 19% learning, just 2% of children played the violin and 1%, the electric guitar. Top instruments Piano and recorder are played by 28%, classical guitar by 20% and drum kit by 14%, with keyboard coming top at 30%.