90% Give up the guitar in the first year

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by Rogerblair

Back in about 1959 or 60 my brother bought a used Sears Silvertone from a friend and gave it to me for my birthday. That lit the fuse. I’m not sure what kept me going at that point, as the guitar was hard to play and there were no other musicians in my household…just enthusiastic parents and brother. Maybe that support structure was what did it.

Every week, I watched Ozzie and Harriet, waiting for Ricky’s song at the end… I WAS RICKY NELSON, gosh darn it! Following all the popular singers and groups, I taught myself some rudimentary chords, and was able to pull off a couple of songs within short order.

Shortly afterwards, my folks allowed my to give up the accordion and helped me buy a Gibson Melody Maker. I didn’t have an amp, so I plugged into an amp that a buddy was borrowing from his dad.

We formed a band with a couple other guys and my music days began in full swing. A couple of bands later, we were playing at high school sock hops and starting to build a nice set list…British invasion was taking over and we tried to keep up with that music. The big thrill then was that the girls liked guys who played in bands.

In 1964 I graduated from high school and was soon working at an art studio, which, along with a serious girlfriend relationship, started to displace my interest in playing in a band. Shortly afterwards I got drafted and my life suddenly changed completely.

I didn’t play guitar for 15 or so years, but picked it up again when my wife’s brother got me back into music. I haven’t stopped since.

Music adds so much texture and pleasure to my life. I would miss it terribly if I couldn’t play.

Roger

Hi Roger,

I also remember watching the Nelson's and hoping we were going to hear another new song from Rick Nelson. That was such a lot of fun!

- Glenn

[columbia]

Is this a bad thing? I know in the music circles I run in, there's no shortage of guitar players. Now bass players . . .

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by rllink

I wonder what percentage here have come and gone over the years.

Hi RL,

I think probably a fairly high percentage of folks on the AGF are no longer active. Some people pass away, some lose interest, some come back every once in a while.

There are a core of people here on the AGF that have been pretty constant over a lot of years. You can see that with some of the very high post counts of some members, and I suppose I am one of them.

But most of the members are active for a few years and then sort of fade away. But some do come back and check in.

- Glenn

[ewalling]

I suspect many give up because there's little they actually want to play. Many of us who persevere beyond basics hear something and think 'Wow, that sounds great. I want to be able to do that!'

I had a friend years back who took up the classical guitar in his thirties and signed up for some lessons. He criticized his parents for not encouraging him to learn music when he was younger. However, he gave up within a year or so. Why? I think it was because he was learning aimlessly. He seemed to be learning just for the sake of it rather than having something specific that he wanted to play. Withoit such a goal, I can't see much point in carrying on.

[TBman]

I'm in the age group that was super lucky to have the Beatles emerge during their youth. I was 9 when they were on the Ed Sullivan show. After that everyone wanted to learn to play the guitar it seemed. Learning and playing Beatles songs stuck with me until my late teenage years and by then we had Neil Young, CSN, etc to influence our acoustic playing as well.

I'm so far removed from the current music scene that I have no idea who beginners would emulate to get themselves started and maintain interest.

[hairpuller]

I was fortunate to have a friend who was a fantastic guitarist, and he made playing fun. He also played and taught me stuff that I liked to listen to. Also, initially we played a lot of electric guitar (Fender Jaguar), so that made it quite a bit easier, too.

That combination made it hard for me to quit.

scott

[OldLefty]

As someone who took up guitar at age 65 a few years ago, I think it really helps to already know how to read music and have a decent grasp of music theory. I learned all that in traditional classical music training with my main instrument being the piano. Much easier to visualize a lot of stuff on the piano-- intervals, inversions, etc. I can't imagine learning all that stuff for the first time on the guitar, while trying to learn how to get decent sounds out of it at the same time.

So all I had to worry about was the mechanics of playing-- which was plenty hard enough for me, thank you.

Can't imagine giving it up now, though-- because its still hard enough for me to require total concentration, its the most relaxing hour of my day.

[hubcapsc]

I'm wondering what the members here think makes the difference between players sticking with the guitar rather than giving up.

There's probably a lot of people who think playing the guitar is cool.
Probably fewer who think it is fun after they start trying to do it...

-Mike

[Paleolith54]

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

This article from musicradar states that Fender's research shows that 90 per cent abandoned the instrument within their first year as a beginner.

I have always known from personal experience that most people who own guitars never learn to play them particularly well, but I found this 90% number rather surprising. I didn't realize the number was quite that high.

Fender's reaction to this information has been to put huge amounts of time and long-term investment into the learning market with its Fender Play and Fender Songs services. I do think that is good thinking on Fender's part. Every player who continues to play is a potential customer for 5-7 future guitars.

I am assuming that the AGF is full of people who are fairly dedicated to learning to play the guitar better, so based on that assumption, I'm wondering what the members here think makes the difference between players sticking with the guitar rather than giving up.

- Glenn

Pure speculation, I freely admit, but beyond the simple fact that practically everyone at some point tries something that they don't stay with (which shouldn't be newsworthy, really) I think most people want to learn to play songs but their teachers or mentors have them focusing on learning the instrument. I suspect this drives lots of people away, as the short-term pain-to-gain ratio is just too high.

[birkenweg42]

A lot of good points made here.

It would be interesting to know what the abandonment rate was thirty years ago. I would bet that it was much less that 90%.

Kids nowadays grow up differently than previous generations. I bought my first guitar in 1979 on a class trip to England in a pawn shop in London. Four or five of my friends on the trip already played guitar and encouraged me to go for it. I had encouragement from friends, and later band mates, to learn and develop as a guitar player early on. My whole social life at that time was built around the guitar.

I am 58 and don’t have a lot of connections with youth culture but I think that the culture has changed. It’s probably safe to say that most learn online now. Access to tab and instructional videos was never easier but what is missing is the social component of feedback and encouragement when you learn online. I wouldn’t be motivated much either.

[Mark Stone]

I just think new players don't understand the dedication, practice, and time involved in learning. It looks easy, but it ain't.

[jricc]

Originally Posted by Chickee

You’re right Glenn, I was and am very lucky. Ultimately he and I sing and play together to this very day! We would sit on the stoop in Brooklyn as young guys and play all night. He bought me my Univox LesPaul copy when I was thirteen years old. My rock and roll life was up and running and continues today.
Me and big brother!

Chickee, great story and great pic! Thanks for sharing

[GuitarVlog]

I’m not surprised to read that 90% give up guitar.

I want to know what percentage acquire more than 1.

Or maybe that’s the whole 10%?

[cedartop52]

In my case I was 'taken' by the guitar thanks to:
1)my parents instilled in me a love of music
2)I wanted to be a part of the 60s folk/rock music scene
3)that music was fairly easy to learn
4)guitar was the instrument of the time
I made every mistake possible - no lessons, can't read music, cheap guitar, etc...but #1-3 got me over the learning hump and allowed me 50-plus years of great joy. Thanks for posing the question! Dan

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by birkenweg42

A lot of good points made here.

It would be interesting to know what the abandonment rate was thirty years ago. I would bet that it was much less that 90%.

Kids nowadays grow up differently than previous generations. I bought my first guitar in 1979 on a class trip to England in a pawn shop in London. Four or five of my friends on the trip already played guitar and encouraged me to go for it. I had encouragement from friends, and later band mates, to learn and develop as a guitar player early on. My whole social life at that time was built around the guitar.

I am 58 and don’t have a lot of connections with youth culture but I think that the culture has changed. It’s probably safe to say that most learn online now. Access to tab and instructional videos was never easier but what is missing is the social component of feedback and encouragement when you learn online. I wouldn’t be motivated much either.

I can only guess, but I'm not sure that the percentage would have been any better 30, 40, 50, or even 60 years ago. I started at age 16 in 1964. Every friend I had at that age had a guitar but of the people who actually learned to play, I know of only a couple. So that is a pretty high dropout rate.

Kids may be less self-disciplined today, but maybe there is no difference. I think a lot of what makes a musician successful is built into a person's personality.

My 15-year-old grandson just expressed an interest in learning to play the guitar just this last week. I am very interested to see how this will work out. He is a lot like me in terms of personality and technical abilities. So I am hoping he will take to the guitar as I did. We'll see...

Stay tuned!

- Glenn