The future of the bagpipes is under threat, as new data reveals a worrying decline in people picking up the historic instrument.
Perhaps not surprisingly given its timeless rock and roll heritage, the electric guitar was the UK’s best-seller in 2024, followed by the keyboard, acoustic guitar, classical guitar, and ukulele.
At the other end of the scale, however, the bagpipes were the third least purchased instrument behind only the kazoo and the bassoon.
Other culturally important instruments and key orchestra mainstays such as the oboe, tenor horn and flugelhorn are also on the decline.
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The figures were compiled by Moombix, which provides live online music lessons, and Gear4Music, the UK’s largest online instrument retailer.
Margret Juliana Sigurdardottir, CEO and Founder at Moombix, said: “Bagpipes being in the doldrums confirms concerns raised in Scotland in 2019 that a key aspect of national culture was at risk of disappearance.
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“Hope comes in the fact that just as technology has made instruments easily available for purchase (without the need to visit a physical store), technology also removes the barrier to entry for learning: with more and more teachers of instruments, mainstream and endangered, available to offer online lessons and reverse the decline.”
Five years ago, the Scottish Schools Pipes and Drums Trust charity cited a ‘silent decline’ in bagpipe learning, evidenced by the new data for 2024.
A surge in electric guitar sales and lessons in recent years has been linked to Stranger Things, when an instrumental version of Metallic’s ‘Master of Puppets’ played a key role in the season three finale.
The American heavy metal band showed their support for the Stranger Things boost.
(Image: TikTok)
There was also an unexpected resurgence of interest in the cello, thanks to another Netflix hit show – the Addams Family spin-off Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Gear4Music has seen a 21% year-on-year increase in harmonica orders ahead of the upcoming Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, starring Timothée Chalamet.
In recent years, the Sutton Music Trust has launched scholarships to support the learning of “endangered instruments” including the trombone, French horn, tuba, bassoon, double Bass, and viola.
Timothée Chalamet stars as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown
(Image: Getty)
The humble recorder – once a classroom favourite – has also seen a drop (7th in the lowest-selling instrument rankings), reflecting a broader move away from woodwind in schools.
Brass band instruments, such as the flugelhorn (6th) and cornet (14th) face similar challenges. With perceptions of these instruments as outdated and lacking a ‘cool’ factor, fewer learners are adopting them.
Sales figures also show a shift from acoustic to digital instruments, such as digital drum kits, as well as the growth of ‘wellness’ trends.
Tuning forks and gongs, both associated with sound therapy and ‘sound baths’, now feature in the UK’s most-sold popular instruments.
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