For the first time, the electric guitar has overtaken the violin in a list of most popular musical instruments among children amid a music boom in the UK, says a leading music exam board.
Some 13 per cent of five- to 17-year-olds in the UK play the electric guitar, compared with 12 per cent for the violin.
Keyboard is the most popular instrument, played by 30 per cent of the 1,726 children, quizzed by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM).
The figures suggest a music boom - but poorer children may be missing out, the BBC reported.
Some 76 per cent of children aged five to 14 told the researchers they knew how to play an instrument compared with 41 per cent in 1999.
Compared with 1999 there has been rise in instrumental learning an across the board, with increasing numbers of children playing a wider variety of instruments and some children playing two or more, suggests the report.
Back in 1999, the recorder was the most popular instrument among this age group, with 19 per cent learning, just 2 per cent of children played the violin and 1 per cent, the electric guitar.
Piano and recorder are played by 28 per cent, classical guitar by 20 per cent and drum kit by 14 per cent, with keyboard coming top at 30 per cent.
Over a fifth (21 per cent) of young musicians said they had taught themselves rather than having lessons.
The researchers found significant gender differences, with more boys "tending to learn pop music instruments than girls".
"More girls than boys are playing the recorder, violin and flute", say the authors.
But the report also found a substantial class divide with 15 per cent of five- to 17-year-olds having never played an instrument.
Almost three quarters (74 per cent) of children from affluent backgrounds said they had lessons, individually or in classes, compared with 55 per cent of those from poorer groups.
Some 30 per cent of children who had never had lessons said they were too expensive, while 40 per cent of poorer children said they had no opportunity to learn at school.
Lincoln Abbotts, director of strategic development at ABRSM said it would work with policy makers to "target and align funding to support disadvantaged learners and address regional imbalances".
