The bar chart illustrates the percentage of school children who were learning to play four different musical instruments between 2005 and 2015, with data recorded at five-year intervals.
Overall, the piano, the guitar and the drums all became more popular among students, whereas the violin was the only instrument to see a decline. It is also noteworthy that the guitar experienced the most dramatic growth, overtaking the piano to become the most commonly learnt instrument by the end of the period.
Focusing first on the two most popular instruments, the piano and the guitar both saw significant growth. In 2005, just over 10% of children were learning the piano, slightly higher than the figure for the guitar, at 10%. Both figures then roughly doubled over the next five years, with the piano still slightly ahead at just over 20% in 2010. However, the guitar grew much faster in the following period, reaching 40% in 2015, while the piano rose to just over 30%.
Turning to the less popular instruments, the drums and the violin showed much smaller changes. The percentage of children learning the drums rose steadily from only 5% in 2005 to 15% in 2015, three times its original level. By contrast, the violin, which was as popular as the guitar at the beginning of the period, became less common over time. Its figure fell gradually to just over 5% in 2015, making it the least popular instrument in the final year.