Overall, the proportion of children learning to play musical instruments increased considerably between 1996 and 2016. As for the choices of children, while the figure for more than one instrument, keyboard, and electric guitar rose to varying degrees, the reverse was true for piano, violin, acoustic guitar, and other unspecified instruments.
Focusing on the pie charts first, in 1996 56% of children did not learn any musical instruments, slightly more than those who did(44%). After two decades, the former figure fell significantly to 24% while the latter rose noticeably to 76%.
When it comes to musical instruments which saw increases in figures, keyboard showed the biggest rise from 21% to 30%. However, the percentage of children who learned more than one instrument and electric guitar had much smaller increases, from 12% to 13% and 13% to 16%, respectively.
In contrast, 30% of children learned to play the piano in 1996, after which the figure dropped minimally to 27%. Violins(14%) were twice as popular as acoustic guitars(7%) in 1996 and their respective figures decreased to 10% and 3%. Lastly, only 3% of children learned miscellaneous instruments in 1996, a figure which then saw a slight fall to 2% in 2016.