The long-held thought that young lads are mostly the ones learning how to play the guitar is extremely wrong, because a new study conducted by iconic guitar creators, Fender, has found that half of the people picking up the axe are women.
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Can I get an extremely HELL YEAH on that one, please?
According to the big research done by the chord lords, half of the customer base of Fender in the US and UK are women and girls, eager to master the shred stick and live out their dreams of being the next Carrie Brownstein, Joan Jett, St Vincent, Courtney Barnett, or one of the Haim sisters.
Speaking with Rolling Stone, Fender CEO Andy Mooney said that there were suspicions that Taylor Swift influenced the spike in gals getting into the riffs because of her own sick six-stringed skills, but the numbers a staying high well after Swifty has shifted away from playing her acoustic live.
There was also [the] belief about what people referred to as the ‘Taylor Swift factor’ maybe making the 50 percent number short-term and aberrational. In fact, it’s not. Taylor has moved on, I think playing less guitar on stage than she has in the past. But young women are still driving 50 percent of new guitar sales. So the phenomenon seems like it’s got legs, and it’s happening worldwide.
The study also found that folks are finessing their plucking for different reasons. Almost three quarters of people surveyed said they picked up the riff stick to learn a new skill or get a bit of life improvement, just over half of them just wanted to know how to play tunes on their own or with mates and family rather than trying to get big enough to play Coachella, and just under half said that they see playing the guitar as a big part of their identity – I’m like 110% certain everyone can point THAT person out at a party.
Despite the fact that electronic music and synth-produced beats are definitely all the rage at the moment with trap, hip-hop and EDM dominating music charts, it’s clear that people just fucken love to shred, and always will.
So I guess if you’re stuck on what to get your niece/cousin/daughter/etc for Christmas, may I suggest a sick riff stick for them to learn on, and maybe a session with Girls Rock! Australia?
