An estimated 16 million people started learning guitar in the past two years, with 62% saying that one motivator was the extra time they had while in quarantine.

For context, 16 million is roughly 7% of the U.S. population. And that’s not 7% playing the guitar . . . or knowing how to play . . . it’s LEARNING, in just two years.

72% of new players are between the ages of 13 and 34 . . . but not all of them are looking to become rock stars. 67% of new players have full time careers . . . and the majority of them consider guitar more of a hobby rather than a passion.

It’s worth pointing out that the study was commissioned by Fender . . . the guitar maker. But they do say that they offered three months of free online lessons after the pandemic hit, and one million people signed up for that program alone.