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Seemingly without notice until recently, the music industry has been experiencing a seismic and possibly irreversible change throughout the last decade. Last year, the Washington Post published an article about the recent decline in international electric guitar sales. The numbers are pretty shocking. In just the past decade, electric guitar sales have dropped by a third, from 1.5 million to a new average of just over 1 million. As you can imagine, this trend has been hell on small music stores, but even large music retailers have been experiencing pain due to waning guitar sales.
If you own a music store, this is all pretty bleak news, but what does the electric guitar’s decline mean for the rest of the music industry?
The most obvious takeaway is that young songwriters are increasingly opting out of creating and performing music through traditional means. Electronic music used to be confined to a couple of genres and moods, but in 2018, the lines defining electronic and organic music are blurred and nearly indistinguishable in some cases. For decades, the electric guitar has been a staple within virtually every genre of music, but with such a rapid decline in popularity, electronic-driven instrumentation might soon takeover that role, and possibly that of other instruments.
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An aging customer base and lack of new iconic guitarists have been blamed for the guitar’s recent decline, but a possible larger culprit behind it all is the fact that guitar-driven music isn’t nearly as relevant as it was previously. In 2018, simple reverb-drenched electric guitar lines are defining the instrument more than anything else. And while this sound perfectly suits genres like indie rock, it’s not inspiring a new generation of kids to go out and buy electric guitars in the same way it once did.
there’s almost a popular sense that musicians have taken guitar music as far as it can go while electronic composition provides limitless options.
Trends come and go in music, but popular artists’ increasing preference for electronic instrumentation is a significant one. And though it’s completely false, there’s almost a popular sense that musicians have taken guitar music as far as it can go while electronic composition provides limitless options.
This all might seem bad for retailers and songwriters who prefer creating music on the electric guitar, but it’s not all bad news. For as much technology has impacted music in recent years, it’s still not great at replicating the humanity and immediacy of an instrument like the electric guitar. Songwriting software programs can do some pretty incredible things, but their synthesized guitar instruments aren’t able to hold a candle to the real thing.
What’s popular and relevant in music can change seemingly overnight, but music fans will always long for some sort of honest human connection in the songs they listen to. And as long as songwriters are able to use the electric guitar to connect with listeners, the instrument will be a major part of the way artists create and perform music.
Patrick McGuire is a musician, writer, and educator currently residing in the great city of Philadelphia. He creates music under the name Straight White Teeth, and has a great affinity for dogs and putting his hands in his pockets.
63 comments
Join the conversationMark - February 6, 2018
This story seems to be spot on in my opinion. Being in a band and figuring out songs from the radio to learn, it’s almost impossible sometimes to pick out the guitar part only to find there wasn’t any guitar in the song. For that matter, with the music so loud and squashed, you can’t tell any instruments apart from one another. Take Mark Thayer. Co for instance, you can always hear all the separate instruments and especially a guitar.
I do think though that human connection bound to win over in the long run and guitars will find a new nitch.
Matt - June 19, 2020
“ And though it’s completely false, there’s almost a popular sense that musicians have taken guitar music as far as it can go while electronic composition provides limitless options.”
Perhaps not so surprisingly, the blame for this lies almost solely on GUITARISTS. A big part of the problem with guitar-driven music is that it is lacking in innovation. Guitar-driven music just seems to be stuck in that whole rut of just cranking out variations of the same old hard rock/metal theme that has been going on for the last half century. And the truth is that, much as things have always been, young listeners want music that they can call their own. Although they may actually appreciate their father’s and grandfather’s music, it is just not the ‘cool’ or ‘trendy’ thing to them. For guitar to regain the coolness and trendiness it once enjoyed, guitarists are going to have to be open to doing new and different things with guitars. Otherwise, guitar-driven music will simply go the way of jazz, big band/swing, or classical music.
xddd - August 25, 2020
It’s not true. The only reason nobody listens to guitar music in 2020 is because it’s kinda cringe. the truth is that guitar music is still developing but it’s hard to acess for younger audience. Listen to bands like Nortlane – A1i3n, or Car Bomb this is the modern day equivalent of experimental rock music. Or if you prefer guitar virtuosos, you have bands like Vitality or Animals as leaders. You don’t know who they are because you got bored with the music but still prefer to blame others for that.
And if you cant identify instruments in pop music then you are just deaf.
If you want to blame anybody for that then you can only blame blues, rock and metal guitarist bands because they dont want to move on and try new things. They want to gatekeep new stuff and play the same old stuff over and over again.
joshua - September 21, 2021
I think the problem is we have taken music education out of schools. These kids never learn to play an instrument, so they are forced to make music electronically. We don’t have virtuosos anymore because nobody is studying anymore. Music will always survive whether or not people know how to make it with their hands or not. Will this change? …..well that’s up to the future and how much we are willing to invest in the education of our children.
John - December 2, 2021
It’s a wider societal problem that everything is being made for speed and convenience it’s all about marketing to the largest possible consumer base and in the name of inclusivity even the left have bought into this idea every thing inneducation has been summed down and the self discipline required to learn to play the guitar or any other instrument seems an unnecessary use of time and effort to the younger generation and as for innovation the guitar has always and hopefully will always be associated with the blues with some European folk influences mixed in like country that’s what the instrument is for and the kids who want to use it as a precision instrument should just buy some drums they are not being innovative or original just taking the easiest path possible in the end all real musicians appreciate classical and jaz as JFK once said not because they are easy but because they are hard ! and if we want our kids to learn music we must start to challenge the idea that life should be made as easy as poss and give them back the chances to feel a sense of self respect and personal or collective achievement in working hard towards the realisation of an ultimate goal over time rather than instant gratification which seems to be the in thing at the moment
Rick - January 30, 2022
Yes, music should be taught in schools. It looks like the Internet has taken over for newcomers. Playing a guitar whether electric or acoustic is your hobby, I like acoustic guitar best.. I have about 2 electric guitars I also have about 5 acoustic guitars. I like to finger-pick. Oh and I have a banjo. All this is so comforting. A great thing while the covid virus is out there. I’m a disabled veteran and guitar is really great for me.
Chuck lee - January 7, 2021
It’s sad to say but true that to my opinion and many, many others, the last decade or so music sucks there’s no feeling, no emotions, I haven’t got goosebumps listening to a song in 10 years, and to those that think I’m being bias, well I’ve listened to a lot of the newer music in different genres and it just doesn’t do it for me, and I absolutely love music, it’s my therapist, my doctor, my lover, my counselor, but the music today I’d rather be shot for a crime I didn’t commit than to be tortured listening to the shit out today, the only one I’ve heard that sounds really good and it’s only one, out of maybe hundreds of thousands, and that’s greta van fleet, they are real people playing real instruments, and have good songs, I’ll just play my guitar and jam until someone comes out with something decent enough for human ears to consume
Jethro - January 21, 2021
I agree 100% with alot of your sentiments man, but not the Greta Van Fleet part. Gvf is a band that is ripping off a band that ripped off everybody else, remorselessly and blatantly at that. When the front man for gvf was called out for sounding suspiciously like Robert Plant he pretended like he had never heard of Led Zeppelin. You can literally play Gvf’s music and over half of it is a Led Zeppelin track with the riff slightly changed, to the degree that it syncs up with the tempo, key, chord structure, tonality and vibe to a startling point, they are even using almost the exact same gear and dressing as much like LZ as they can, so kinda zero chance of GVF not knowing who the hell Led Zeppelin is . We also need to be carful about letting plagiarism be a normal thing. But honestly if dealing with a little plagiarism gets us back to a more human place with music so be it.
DavidK - February 7, 2018
The popular genres in big label pop are certainly not guitar-oriented (this is me not being snarky about the sorry state of modern pop). Those genres that _are_ have smaller audiences. This sales decline for guitars is completely predictive. Whether there will be a sea change in popular music back to more human-driven styles I really can’t say. The last couple generations are not as music-focused in general; they’re video-oriented, with music being more “background-y.”
That said, there remains a solid minority of folks who still consume (and play) guitar-driven music., Moreover, not all countries have wandered down the electro-pop, hip-hop path. Want great heavier guitar music? Look eastward, to Japan (as well as to the “holdouts” in Scandinavia and Germany). Some of today’s guitar heroes look a bit different from what we may be used to: Tomoko “Tomo-Zo” MIdorikawa of Doll$Boxx, Midori Tatematsu and Mi-ya Watanabe (Lovebites), Mitsuru (Bridear), Saki (Mary’s Blood) are all young Japanese women who flat-out shred.
Carl - February 8, 2018
Indeed. I’ve met quite a few of the ‘next generation’ of millenials at my local rock pub. They all love the classics, from Led Zep through Motorhead, Metallica, Maiden etc. ‘Old sk00l’ is the new cool it seems! While this might be regarded as a niche, I think there is some hope. A lot of modern music seems derivative, and progress has stagnated, not least due to the inability to make money from new music, so there is a tendency for people to go back to the greats of yester-year for stimulation, and in that, perhaps the seeds are being sewn for a new musical revival.
Xan - February 7, 2018
I think that this article is pretty much spot on. Electronic music production is the watershed that electric guitars were when they first came out. However there is one thing overlooked: Sales are down because of all the guitars already in the world!
Factories have been turning out masses of these instruments for decades and unlike a car, an electric guitar can be as good or better 50 years old than the day it was made. They last a long time (if not trashed on stage! lol). Apparently the secondhand market is very healthy and naturally a lot of this is “black market” so to speak, therefore it will never be recorded in stats.
So what you have here is overproduction fuelled by typical corporate greed coming back on itself. And don’t forget the many small boutique makers that have sprung up supplying new instruments. Most of these will not make it into mainstream stat gathering either.
Chris - August 18, 2020
Right. I think it’s worth noting too just how collector driven the guitar market became. Notably manufacturers like Gibson and Fender producing high priced, special edition, signature, etc guitars. Then there was a lust for vintage guitars. I think it’s fair to say a lot of this demand was/is generated by a “white collar”, so to speak, class of consumers who tinker on the guitar at home, polish it, and put it back in its case where it spends most of its life (Stereotyping here of course).
I think we are seeing that group of consumers dwindle and are seeing a larger number of these younger generations of guitarists who don’t care what the specs of grandpa’s guitar were. They don’t want a ’59 Les Paul they want something modern looking, sounding, and playing. Built to the highest quality embracing modern technology (so long as it doesn’t cross the line in effecting the simplicity or practicality of the instrument).
We see evidence of this with how poorly received Gibson’s attempts in the 2000s were to modernize with ideas like robot tuners and even guitars with full-blown computer / OS built-in. Fender also had an amp called the cyber twin that didn’t last long. Compare that to modernity we see from companies like Suhr, PRS, Kiesel, and many others, I think there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that what we are seeing is partially a consumer market that is turning away from guitars built to classic or vintage specs, colors, building techniques and looking for an element of modernity. It’s really interesting to see the spike in the popularity of headless electric guitars. I published an article on this recent here :
https://www.guitarlobby.com/best-headless-guitars/
Check it out if you’re interested. Headless electric guitars making a surge in popularity over 30 years after first conception. Multi-scale guitars are another great example and you mentioned small boutique shops surge. Agree 100% you won’t see these in the mainstream stat reports. Most of what I’ve seen are stats on sales from big-box retailers only.
Larry E Knight - February 7, 2018
One fact cannot be ignored.Why invest in expensive gear when there are very few places that have live music at this point.Tampa Bay, Florida has an oversupply of musicians with very few live venues.The pay is no more than it was 40 years ago!!!
Jack - February 22, 2018
Yes, the number of venues that have live music has dwindled and the clubs are still paying about the same for a band in 2018 as they were in 1980.
The 20 to 30 year old person isn’t as interested in music as they were several decades ago. Hell, people settle for the cruddy sound of a mp3 over a CD or vinyl. People who listen to music, good quality music have to want to seek it out. People who play an instrument have to really WANT to play an instrument, it requires patience, practice, and dedication.
In an age of instant gratification, CGI, and selfies it’s not surprising to see music and all the arts taking a backseat. What the world needs is a new Renaissance.
Art - April 8, 2018
Good to know was thinking about moving down from Chicago. Think the live act music scene every where is tapering off.
db summers - November 2, 2018
so true..the pay is the same or less than “forever ago”…the only gigging musicians in my area are in their 50s or older…and everybody under 35 only wants to see big acts like Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, etc..and “new country” is basically pop/rock with a cowboy hat.
Robert Dunn - February 7, 2018
I think the future of the guitar is alive and well. You have to consider different parts of the world (ie Mexico is still crazy about acoustic just as East Europe is about electric) as well as tried and true genres where a guitar was essential starting with C&W, then classical, flamenco, jazz, blues, then folk, rock, and the amalgamated creations using 2 or more of those genres. I think the current infatuation is part economics (It’s cheaper for a club owner to pay 1 guy with electronics just like the DJ stations of old rather than a group of musicians) and accessibility (it’s more difficult to learn an instrument than work with software) and is just a temporary phase. Besides, the keyboard happy ‘new wave’ of the 80s had guitar manufacturers worried then grunge came along! Something else always comes along for the guitar. They’re easy to carry, convenient to store, romantic to listen to, and beautiful as thought designed by God Himself!
Deep wells - February 7, 2018
Well I think electronic instruments ( including guitar) sounds great now days and I’m from the days of the real thing and still hold true loyalty to
Real instrument but electronic instruments are sounding more n more real and it helps a producer who wants a live instrument sound get work done without all the headaches of real
People sometimes but even in that light my shows are always a live band
Kepha - February 8, 2018
Lack of guitar heroes=lack of guitar interested people…
Michael Moon - February 8, 2018
But interestingly, according to the same report cited in this article, acoustic guitar sales are up… Music is always going to be here just in different forms. Though I’m not that inclined to modern pop music there is a lot of great music happening in the world now and I think it’s great that music constantly goes through changes and evolves. Don’t forget at the end of the 50’s everyone was lamenting the death of rock n roll! Guitar sales probably went down then for a bit too lol.
Robert - February 8, 2018
The times they are a-changin’
Roy Patterson - February 8, 2018
The Washington Post’s article was somewhat shallow in its assessment, and the newspaper did not publish, at least to my knowledge, any rebuttals to their claim. Yes, sales of guitars are down, but only from an inflated and saturated market, courtesy of giant corporate box stores and marketing entities. Sales are returning to a manageable volume, the way is used to be.
Ger - February 9, 2018
the day the electric guitar is dead so will be rock music. It was bad enough to hear that music sales declined to the point you can’t make any real money from it anymore, now i have to hear this. Well, there has NEVER been a more exciting genre of music than Rock and Roll and if the new generation prefer something else that’s more “tame” in nature then i think the future would be rather dismal. We got gangsta rappers killing each other in the last 20 some years. you don’t see heavy metal community doing that shit. they’d rather settle it with fists like real men. anyway, i digress…this conversation is really about what musicians SHOULD be doing…playing real instruments and not shit that’s sampled. then you might as well give it to a 2 year old and market what that output is because that is what i hear on the radio sometimes from this trumped up songs that go in one ear and out the other. Long live rock and roll!
len - January 14, 2021
okay boomer
Sean - March 15, 2021
Lol every comment in here is the skinner “no it’s the children who are wrong” . This guy still probably hasn’t heard of ok boomer yet
Kathy - February 10, 2018
well acoustic guitars are so popular with electronic pickups they are more versatile and sound amazing and full, ie. taylor….
Scotty McD - February 16, 2018
Does this article take into consideration they sales from craigslist or Facebook markets?
Also, if you look outside of mainstream radio you’ll see how electric guitar is alive and well. Phish, My Morning Jacket, Lettuce, Moe, Umphreys McGee…etc. look to the jamband scene to find real musicians playing real music.
Keep playing, keep listening
Diane - April 4, 2018
Take it from the side of an agent/production manager. Our company can no longer sign a band with org music anywhere in Tampabay and upper Manatee County. Same holds true in other markets. Venues aren’t interested in live bands. Most bars are pay to play; weddings and corporate events are “duo” at best (vocalist/guitarist over dubbed) We applaud the talent, we just can’t find you work. GC & SA, and any online store selling guitars and pro-gear could still survive, but the artist will soon be playing in the garage again.
stzzla - May 30, 2020
I can only speak for the UK but it social engineering thats killing the live artist. Once some do gooder bans smoking from pubs and clubs then pubs and clubs become less popular as the case has turned out. Then there’s no reason to book live bands because the number of people going to pubs and clubs just doesn’t justify it and no atmosphere is going to be generated by those that do attend. More and more, social engineers are finding ways of keeping people at home, and $crewing them from there instead.
Art - April 8, 2018
Popular music has seen this sort of temporary demise with the guitar before, lookat the Techno rock of the 80’s and even Disco. But guitars come back especially when one or more players come to the forefront of music. Granted there may not be as many of us in the future. Part of that has to do with$$$$ for “decent” guitars and lessons. It’s getting to a point where not everyone can afford musical instruments or lessons.
Stzz;a - May 30, 2020
Thats whats wrong with the modern human, They think they need lessons for guitar. Here’s a known fact, if you like guitar music from the 60’s (and I’m assuming you do) then I’m here to remind you that most of your heroes are self taught because they had the attitude to do something their way, not someone else’s way. And as for not being able to afford instruments, nobody can afford instruments to begin with. The rock genre is replete with stories full of “Guitar Legend X started out with an accoustic that had 1 string on it”. So if people are waiting around cos they dont have lessons and they dont have instruments, then just in mentality, that person doesn’t have what it takes to express THEMSELVES through guitar anyway and its probably not for them. Guitar, especially rock guitar is about jumping in with two feet, telling the music teacher to fuck off, and figuring it out for yourself. Thats the school of hard knocks and it’s the ONLY way to learn. I hope there aren’t any people out there shying away from the guitar just cos they’re waiting for a teacher to put it all on a plate for them.
Gr3g Maglion - July 29, 2018
I agree with most of your article. We part company towards the end of your article. The guitar was in many ways born with the baby boomer generation. It will also die with them. Prior to guitar it was the accordian. The boomers laughed at the accordian. Every generation has their thiing. Quite honestly, I am tired of hearing a guitar solo in every song. I use to say the only thing worse then a drum solo was a bass solo. The guitar will never go away nor will accordian. The question is, Will there be something that comes along and has the staying power that the guitar had. It was a great run.
Justin - October 1, 2018
Ha ha. Your opinion is that of very few. The guitar has amazing lasting power, because it is amazing and will always be around. Sorry you don’t like the guitar solos. Looking at the best new rock and hard rock bands coming out, an increasing number of people disagree
r_ veil - September 20, 2018
Joe Perry and Brad Whitford are still playing — did 17 shows in summer 2017.
Glenn - September 30, 2018
Just a few tidbits of information here. At a certain time in the 60s, rock guitarist turned from being musicians to special effect guys. Wah Wah pedals, distortion pedals, etc and on and on. Look in any current guitar mag and you will often see 30 or more pedal board units. These sounds are temporarily interesting but are nothing more than a sonic fad. It is also completely unsatisfying for the musician themselves. This may sound odd, but the general public and guitarist themselves, do not trust rock guitarists. More and more people know that the technology can do a lot of the playing. This is why people like tommy emmanuel (acoustic fingerstyle). Win top awards as the best guitarist in the world. Somewhere in the back of people’s mind they know the work and effort required are simply not worth it. As a player for over 40 years, I now know very well how completely fake and insincere the electrical guitar can sound. All one has to do is pick up an acoustic guitar to hear it. So the electrical guitar is never in a vacuum by itself. It is tied to the effect pedal and sonic fads, neither of which the public particularly cares to hear anymore.
John D - October 4, 2018
Most electronic music takes no skill or musicianship. You don’t have to keep the rhythm going, or have to worry about playing a wrong note when it is a machine. Or better yet, if you are just slamming on pads, you really don’t have to know the note you are hitting. I think that is why it is becoming more popular. If you don’t have to be talented, and a machine can make it for you with the press of a button, then that is where most of it lives. I agree that the Guitar Sales are down. It used to be that playing guitar was something that a lot of people wanted to do. Especially the rock sound. It is a powerful feeling and an incredible instrument. I think that the electronic market is about saturated. Whenever I go out, the bands are playing songs from the 1990’s or the 2000’s. Some playing old Journey, Stevie Wonder, etc. That music holds up and people are payed well to play those songs. I think the music will circle back around. Country is very guitar heavy and it is the top selling genre. So I don’t see the guitar going away anytime soon. I never though I’d see it, but the Brad Paisley’s of the country music industry are now considered to be today’s top modern guitar players. But they do tear it up, so I totally give them the props. As far as electronic or hip hop, it is saturated big time. And with the lack of the 12 tone scale, starting to drone into a large single mass that sound the same. The guitar, the Piano, the “Real” instruments will prevail in the long run. This is only stretch.
Augustine - April 13, 2021
Listen to Druqs by Aphex Twin and tell me it takes no skill or musicianship. You can literally say that about any genre you don’t like. Every single genre under the sun has people at the cutting edge, if you’re open minded enough to learn to listen to that genre.
John - December 2, 2021
There is no answers to your comment if you honestly believe that modern music requires skill then you have redefined the term which is a very common trait in today’s world
PK - November 17, 2018
There will be a new iconic guitar superstar around the corner that would bring back the guitar interests to the millenialls in a different styles and ways. Its probably be RAP, HIP HOP , KRUNK go in to take on 6 string n doin it’s thang!
Alphatec - November 27, 2018
Very good information about electric guiter
jerome (Jerry) - March 17, 2019
As a boomer and a player I can see why the guitar is not selling at its former pace. I set up a “studio” in my spare room. Guitars, amps, keys, drums; all at the ready. When I added a sound generator module, the clerk wanted to know what kind of computer/software I was using. I’m not using a computer. His jaw almost hit the floor. He wanted to know how I could make music without a computer! Kids…Anyway; by the time I left the store he was off jabbering with his co-workers about how you can make music without a computer. Like it was news. But that’s the root of the issue. You don’t need to spend hours upon hours learning how to play anymore; so why would you? Just make a beat and add tones. For a few bucks you can get software, access free VST’s, and do multi track recording by the end of the day. Progress? Maybe. Music? The debate will continue…
Qej - April 15, 2022
why setup a studio? Get some schmuck on fivr to play you a song–and then you can just hit the play button and get paid
Mayo - July 30, 2019
Perhaps electric guitar manufactures should start building solar powered instruments. With today’s emphasis on global warming (which is a scientific fact) I think a lot of people would be drawn to a solar powered electric guitar and amp. When Trump is finally out of our hair in 2020 we can once again reap the benefits of environmental protection and innovation that President Obama afforded us.
John Angilletta - June 28, 2020
Solar powered guitars?
Since you brought in politics,
Trump Pence 2020
John - December 2, 2021
Nobody is saying warming isn’t happening it’s just the cause that people don’t agree on however wood sources is a bigger environmental issue than power source .Kids just want an easy life and if technowlage can facilitate that then they will use it like self parking cars ! Personally I was given a second hand bicycle at the age of 10 and I thought I had died and gone to heaven also my first guitar from Santa was almost unplayable extremely painful and impossible to tune yet it still changed my life more than all today’s technowlogy has!
Bobby Kittleberger - September 13, 2019
Hey Patrick – good article. Would have liked to see you contend with the WashPo piece a little more though. I actually wrote a lengthy response piece to that article that got some decent traction. It would be relevant to this piece: https://www.guitarchalk.com/response-death-of-the-electric-guitar-washington-post/
Basically, I’m arguing that the “death” of the electric guitar is significantly over-stated.
Anyways, I hope you find it helpful. Thanks.
JD - September 15, 2019
Most people are simply bored with guitar. Grunge was the last gasp of highly successful guitar-centered music but after 20+ years of post-grunge sounding music, the masses are getting very bored (quite frankly sick and tired) with the sonic qualities guitar has to offer.
Most people acknowledge the guitar probably reached its peak during the late 1960’s (Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin/ Jimmy Page, Cream/Eric Clapton) through the early 1980’s (Halen, Journey, Def Leppard) and has been declining ever since. This began with the complete avoidance of guitar (for the most part) in popular rap/hip hop of the late 1980’s. Even in popular hard rock of the early 1990’s, Nirvana’s lack of guitar solos (for the most part) and the reduced emphasis on the guitar continued in pop/rock.
The decline of the guitar is evident in successful modern pop/rock bands such as Imagine Dragons, Maroon 5, Fall Out Boy and Panic At The Disco; none of which have a heavy emphasis on guitar. Sadly, in most cases the guitar is hidden away (in shame) in the background behind the synth. I’ve been playing guitar for 25 years since I was a little kid and it kills me to say this but when you are face to face with reality sometimes it hurts. It was an amazing instrument but we are back in a world of keyboards/ synth based music. What is left of guitar-centered music (rock n’ roll) is the attitude and energy which lives on in the vocals and rhythms evident in today’s successful pop artists such as Post Malone, Taylor Swift and Halsey. There will always be a strong metal/ punk underground scene (i.e. Slipknot, Tool, Killswitch Engage) but we all may have to wait a long time before guitar makes its way back into popular music, if this ever happens. Another instrument which hasn’t even been invented yet may takes its place in the future.
In the mean time it would make a lot of people happier if they did their best to open their minds to new music being made (of all genres) and try to not be stuck in the past forever.
Tim R - October 1, 2019
So when someone asks the techno/ sample programmer (not musician) what they play….the answer is Nothing. But “I put together samples of other people’s hard work and actual musicianship and call it ‘art”. What a bunch of BS.
The truth is in this instant gratification society no one has the attention span to learn a real instrument. Hard work and dedication seem to have been lost.
Scott Jorgensen - October 4, 2019
As Joe Walsh lamented about the tech/studio trend….”there’s no mojo”
Matt - October 5, 2019
“ And though it’s completely false, there’s almost a popular sense that musicians have taken guitar music as far as it can go while electronic composition provides limitless options.“
Although this problem is completely artificial, THIS is the problem with electric guitar these days. Basically, in the last couple of decades, electric guitar has become completely typecast as an instrument for hard rock/metal. And, sorry to say folks, these genres have been done to death and are rather passé. Needless to say, they are no longer trendy, cutting edge forms of music. As long as electric guitar can ONLY be an instrument used in these forms of music (which are rather niche these days), it will die. Or at least be so limited to niche uses that it is reduced to the status to the flugelhorn.
Of course, in past decades, electric guitar was used plenty in all kinds of genres from pop to soul to R&B. But for whatever reason, these uses of the instrument have gone the way of the dodo bird. When was the last time you heard a guitar used in a pop song? Not that this can’t happen again. And it’s not like we can’t make GREAT pop or R&B with guitar like we did back in the 70s (and even into the 80s to some degree). But there seems to be a general unwillingness the see this happen. And unless this happens, electric guitar will be reduced to nothing more than a niche instrument.
Jeff - July 31, 2021
Dude. *Everything* has been done to death. Indie-rock, EDM, nu-country, smooth jazz, whatever. But rock/metal gets all the grief, which is another way of saying the post-punk hip consensus still obtains and THAT’s the real problem.
You’re right, though, about expanding the guitar into other genres. But that’s not the fault of guitarists–it’s the fault of record companies, producers, and people who don’t like guitars. They’re the ones who need to free their minds.
Stzzla - May 30, 2020
Music is like anything else in life. Trends go up, trends go down. One minute it’s “omg my bum looks big in this skirt” and then it’s “my ass doesn’t look big enough in this skirt”….attitudes come and go and so do music styles. If honest to god guitar music is declining now, it will come round again. I remember people saying the same shit in the mid 80’s and then guns n roses came along and then all of a sudden everyone seemed to be rock fans. In short, shit happens, so just let it (or as Mick Jagger might have put it once, Let It Bleed), and stop thinking too much. Human cravings are weird. When rock music came along everyone wanted it until it became boring to people. Then along came disco and new wave and punk and pop……and you know what? People got bored of that stuff as well. So along came techno and brit rock and club tunes…….and you know what? People got bored of that stuff, so………can you see where I’m going with this? These kids at some point will get bored of their electronic toys. And along will come a generation who wants something different. Keep your hand in at all times. But above all else, I mainly write music for me anyway, so I dont really give a toss if nobody else thinks it’s a popular thing to do. I like doing it, and thats a good enough reason for doing it. The only people who need to worry about trends are the soulless money chasers wanting to be famous. I dont share their worries.
Ian - June 11, 2020
Most pop music at the moment is written and created by people who couldn’t play a G major chord on a guitar. So when these computer nerds perform “live” they can’t tell the backing band (DJ) to play a chord sequence, because they haven’t a clue. So the nerd has to perform (sing) along with a backing track, to an audience. Good luck with that one, but don’t expect to sell any tickets, and when the DJ leaves for a better job, the nerd become unemployed.
Whereas…
Ask any practised, professional guitarist to play a blues with no practice and at a gig, it will probably sound wonderful. Yes, you might have heard similar before, but isn’t that because you respect their influences?
Tom Meade - September 10, 2020
I bought six new made in usa electric gibsons and fenders in 2016 and 2017. I cant play well. I just love the history of the American made iconic electric guitar. Its great that 2020 is a big year for the guitar makers. Maybe i will buy a few more this year or next. Sounds like many new guitar owners are increasing the interest. Who knows. Maybe a few future hall of famers are just getting started in 2020!
Mot Mandre - September 16, 2020
People today are just too lazy to learn a real instrument. Electronic noise abounds devoid of any melodic coherence. Button pushing and effect processors enhancing a looping fart passes for music. cRAP, most of it. It isn’t just guitar that has a dropping number of players, and that isn’t really the issue, the issue is the death of musicianship in general.
Michael Trubetskov - September 30, 2020
Pretty sure that the popularity comes and goes. I’ve seen people starting to implement electric guitar in their trap or hip-hop music, and new Miley Cirus music seems to be guitar-driven as well. I wouldn’t be surprised if it comes back up soon.
Suraj Roy - November 21, 2020
Well I think electronic instruments ( including guitar) sounds great now days and I’m from the days of the real thing and still hold true loyalty to
Real instrument but electronic instruments are sounding more n more real and it helps a producer who wants a live instrument sound get work done without all the headaches of real
People sometimes but even in that light my shows are always a live band
Jose Ole - January 8, 2021
I’m curious if the trend of ‘guitar hero’ style videogames had any effect on this. They were the ‘in’ thing from the end of the ps2 lifespan into the wii and ps3 era, then started falling off a cliff in the 2010s. It may not have affected guitar sales at all, but I could see younger millenials having their first experience with a guitar-like gaming controller souring their interest to learn an actual guitar as those games’ popularity decreased. Meh, it may not be anything, just a random thought 🙂
Paul Love - April 4, 2021
If this comments section is anything to go by then the reason kids don’t want to play guitar is because people who like guitars are grumpy old boomers who stopped listening in the 90s.
From Beiber to Thundercat there’s bloody loads of great modern music and Fender had their best year of sales in their history in 2020. Long live music. Screw gatekeeping.
Martin - May 21, 2021
Great interesting comments. One thing not discussed in detail is recording. I.e recording techniques and equipment. With expensive lush studios from 60s to 90s where it was $2000/day is not utilised anymore as people are recording for pennies at home due to the rise of protools and plugins and now affordable 500 series EQs, preamps and compressors.. It
used to be thousands of artists creating millions of records now it’s millions of artists creating thousands of records and this mass dilution is creating a weaker original sound.. also fix in the mix creates artists that don’t need to get the sound right first time and this is not a good thing..
all that said all art and music has to be progressive otherwise it’s just regurgitating the old but please we want real instruments with real people and real emotion-isn’t that what we all want? 🤪
Jeff - July 31, 2021
If you like it, it’s real emotion. I get you, but we have to understand that sometimes people love things we hate.
For some reason, I don’t see anyone blaming the industry, which has currents of thought of its own.
Dan - April 28, 2022
I’d imagine there’s a decline in guitars and other musical instruments in general with the current generation of youth. They’re simply too distracted with various forms of screens in front of their face all day long. It’s rare to even see children outside playing in neighborhoods.
Elle - May 30, 2022
2022- how wrong the prediction was! Guitars flew off the shelves when folks were in pandemic lockdown.. having time to try and learn. Guitar sellers had biggest years ever. Here’s my prediction. Most of those folks will give up and eventually we’ll have a glut of used guitars to choose from.