How many play guitar?

[teleme01]

I am always into math and numbers and demographics. So I Google number of guitar players. Turned out 1 in 10 have a guitar x 7 billion people and there are 7 hundred million people worldwide who collect, own , play, try to play,... myself, I would be in the bottom of the top half, anyway, there are a lot of us.

 

[TBurst Std]

I would say that number is quoted skewed. I imagine the factor is closer to 1:100,000 if not 1:10,000,000

Or are you only talking the US? You didn’t state your sample. Sorry, I’m a data scientist.

 

[TBurst Std]

I would even suggest at least 2.5% here (members) do not play guitar, they are bassists only.

 

[teleme01]

 

[teleme01]

Can't refute ai

 

[Scab Pickens]

Can't refute ai

I know you are (I hope you are) joking ...

I'm so sick of this crap. We need to stop developing artificial intelligence and start eliminating natural stupidity.

 

[stratamania]

I'm so sick of this crap. We need to stop developing artificial intelligence and start eliminating natural stupidity.

There is quite some irony in this statement. I hope you are also joking.

 

[mayfly]

I prefer artificial stupidity.

 

[teleme01]

My point of the thread was there are 700 million including cowboy chorders and those who never learned the cowboy chords. Those who know theory and those who play by ear. All on different levels with diverse backgrounds, they who play metal and others play ballads, some read, some don't. Every level from your weird uncle to Julian lage. I wish I was better than I am but I am better than I was.

 

[TBurst Std]

Still, that AI generated item is directly sourced from Medium. A pay for access writer blog. Some of it lifted from Liverpool Academy (as noted). It’s part of their pitch to sell you lessons. Seemingly one of their teachers, Steve Flack, posted most of the article.

The other part that was cutoff was a 2021 study by Fender and YouGov. They found 16M people in the US between the ages of 13 and 64 began learning guitar during COVID. 72% of them were ages 13-34. A later study by Fender found 90% quit within 3 months of starting.

The US population in 2021 was 332M. So that 16M is less than 5%. Now 90% quit. So out of 16M, that leaves 1.6M that stayed with it. 1.6M is less than .5% of the 2021 US population.

Add to that it’s probably reasonable there are more guitar players in the US than other countries, but let’s be generous and say people didn’t quit. And let’s be generous a say guitarist per capita is the same say in Afghanistan or India as in the US (which is certainly not the case). The world population in 2021 was 7.9B. That means under 395M guitarists.

I’ve been generous, but the number is still significantly less than that AI generated crap sourced from a music teacher selling lessons and a pay for access writers blog.

 

[mayfly]

Well, glad that I didn't weigh into this further before reading TBurst's post!

 

[stratamania]

It's not really AI-generated.



It is an AI-enhanced Google Search that links to a searched article and gives the sources it found and says, "According to...", which is an indication that the data may or may not be reliable and also gives the references used.

Generative AI is something quite different.

By the way, I asked a similar question in another AI chat and it gave a similar result. I asked then:



How reliable do you think this data is?


The estimate of around 700-715 million guitarists worldwide is based on surveys and market research, the accuracy of which may vary. While it is a useful approximation, the actual number may vary due to factors such as regional differences and the informal nature of learning the guitar.

If you are interested in more precise data, it might be useful to look at specific surveys or reports from music industry organisations.

 

[TBurst Std]

Yes, the AI is sourcing real data.

But the real data is quite suspect. And I’m being kind in that.

If an analyst brought me that data for a decision to be made, I hand him a box, tell them to pack up their desk and expect a Cobra letter.

 

[TBurst Std]

The true study (by Fender) suggests if people are stuck at home for months on end, less than 5% will start playing guitar. Of those, 90% will quit within 90 days. That means .5% stay with it.

 

[Bruce Campbell]

Keep on pickin'!

 

[teleme01]

I thought it was calling "guitar player" as showing an interest in and owning a guitar , what I walked away with is that we are all players but not all on the same skill level. I know I don't make the top million, there is always another guitar player better than me and I am replaceable, easily.

 

[Rick]

The thing to wait for is cognitive ai, as opposed to generative. Generative is still guessing. In about 15 years we'll have cognitive and it will ask the question why.

But it is an intriguing question. When I lived in Brooklyn it was like a different universe. Every townhouse had at least one musician, and you'd come home at night and could hear everyone practicing. Where I live now there are probably about 5 musicians in the houses on the way home from work, and one is a saxophone player, one drummer, one keyboard player, one bassist and two guitarists, including me. I think there's a kid playing trumpet. Probably about 1000 people on that bike ride home. So I'm saying for guitarists, that stick with it, in the normal world USA about 2 in 1000. A lot less for the entire world.

 

[TBurst Std]

I thought it was calling "guitar player" as showing an interest in and owning a guitar , what I walked away with is that we are all players but not all on the same skill level. I know I don't make the top million, there is always another guitar player better than me and I am replaceable, easily.

You know? Lose that thought. There’s lots of great guitarists that are not great, even good, not even mediocre musicians.

Keep honing the guitarist skills, but keep in mind being a musician is the goal.

I’ve met tons of guitarists that are better than I. They can shred better, better finger picking skills etc ad nauseum. The fact is they aren’t good Musicians.

They don’t know how to play with others , for an audience or recognize the importance that it’s not all about you.

That’s why they sit at home and play with theirselves vs playing out, making friends, enjoy playing for an audience and the feeling you get when the audience is happy and making some cash.

Trevor, give me some love here. You know what I’m talking about.

 

[Hodgo]

Too many!! We don’t have enough drummers for all them pickers

 

[TBurst Std]

Or enough bass players.

When I moved here, I quickly made friends with the local store owner. As I play guitar and bass, he warned me:

Don’t let them know you play bass, that will be the majority of your gigs as there are so few here.

He was right. One of the venues I play knows I play bass. It’s 99% of the gigs I have with them.

Me and that owner developed a great relationship. I actually consult him professionally. With our last years effort, he won NAMM Dealer of the Year.