New Guitar Sales

[fronobulax]

1 out of 3 New Guitars Are Purchased for Worship Music

Industry study says church bands are core business.

www.christianitytoday.com

FMIC says 1 out of 3 new guitars are purchased for Worship Music.

Interesting statistic. I note that it deals with new instruments exclusively so there are many conclusions that cannot be jumped to. It also seems to be focused on electrics.

Most interesting quote from the article for me:

“People joke about how simple it is—three chords or four chords—but that was a strength, not a weakness,” Perez said. “You could have a beginner guitar player who learned to play to lead their small group, their cell group, or even a new church.

 

[Stuball48]

I worship mine

 

[Brad Little]

I've noticed over on the AGF that there are a ton of people who mention playing in a worship band. I guess the closest I've come was volunteering to play at a "folk" service in my mother's church. I do lke the quote about 3 or 4 chords, I wonder if the 4th is a relative minor or secondary dominant!

 

[Rocky]

Explains the popularity of Taylor and PRS.

[it's a joke kids]

 

[dreadnut]

Youth groups too.

We had a youth group leader who bought a megabucks Taylor then detuned by a step and played with a capo because, as he explained, "I don't want to stress the top too much." OK, let's spend big bucks on a guitar that we don't trust will hold up to standard tuning!

 

[D30Man]

Down here in the belt that number is probably closer to 2.75 out of 3 guitars purchased.. Last time I played in a church I was in high school. My buddy invited me to play in the church band. I was one of about 7 guitars in the band. I was hungover. I remember that, but not what songs we played. The .25 remaining in that equation all vow to be the next SRV...

 

[Stuball48]

I worship mine

Seriously, the ones who play in our service are playing major chords with an occasional relative minor.
And, then, sometimes we have a bar chorder who slides up and down the neck.
Our real player, could play any style or variation of religious music from finger picking to plucking and used majors, relative minors, sharps, flats. From bluegrass gospel, to blues, to traditional. He would have you pattin' your toe. Sadly, he passed away September 15 of this year. Sure miss what he added to the service.

 

[chazmo]

That's a shame, stuball. Music really touches the heart!

 

[gjmalcyon]

Our Catholic parish (the church is down the block from me) instituted a Saturday night "folk mass" in the early '70's in a bid to be more relevant to the youth of the parish.

I convinced a very talented musician buddy of mine, Dave, to help out, where "help out" meant he led the singing, played all the chords (even the hard ones), selected the music, and ran rehearsals. I kind of hung out and played what chords I could manage.

He was working with the middle school chorus and invited a couple of members to sing with us one Saturday night. I was immediately struck by one of those singers - a tall gorgeous brunette. I was a worldly high school sophomore, and clearly couldn't (and shouldn't) consort with a middle schooler, but I did pay attention.

I stayed in touch with that tall brunette and married her 11 years later.

 

[GGJaguar]

I think it's the same for McPherson guitars, though a lot find their way to country music players.

 

[matsickma]

I read somewhere that 2020 sold a record number of guitars and 60-70 percent were sold to woman and girls. 2021 was anticipated to be another record year.

 

[GGJaguar]

2021 was anticipated to be another record year.

I think many of us here have a hand in that.

 

[fronobulax]

I think many of us here have a hand in that.

Perhaps. Remember that most of the sales statistics reported are for new instruments.

 

[walrus]

Can I ask how they collected their data? i.e., are local music shops asking what music you will be playing? Is Guitar Center? Are on-line sellers like Sweetwater asking?

Just curious how they know with any kind of accuracy.

walrus

 

[Cougar]

I've noticed over on the AGF that there are a ton of people who mention playing in a worship band.

True. There are a lot of these players.

But I question Fender's claim of 1 out of 3 new guitars. How would they know that? The "calculation" of their estimate is pretty questionable. First, it is pointed out that "The number of churches in America is approximately 300,000 congregations, give or take. Conservatively we can say that a third of those churches incorporate guitar into their praise and worship." OK, so that's 100,000 that have guitar in their services. But then "Fender reports that about 1 million players perform in churches every week." Well, wait a minute - that's ten times the number of churches that incorporate guitar into their praise and worship! So yeah, I think the claim is rather exaggerated.

 

[davismanLV]

I sold my Breedlove Concerto E to a worship service guy and his GF who did music for all their services. She sang well. He was marginal. He played okay. The guitar was beautiful. But he bought it off Reverb so he wouldn't be a "statistic'.

 

[dreadnut]

I really wanted to learn guitar so I could lead songs with the youth group. And that's exactly what I did, although it was real basic stuff. Some of the songs we did were Michael Row Your Boat Ashore, Allelu, Kum Bah Yah, and Amazing Grace to the tune of "House Of The Rising Sun."

Not sure who Michael was and why he was rowing a boat...

 

[GAD]

Yeah I find this claim to be of questionable veracity, but then I’ve never met a statistic I could trust.

 

[Nuuska]

I read somewhere that 2020 sold a record number of guitars and 60-70 percent were sold to woman and girls. 2021 was anticipated to be another record year.

Do they know who she is ?

 

[Prince of Darkness]

Do they know who she is ?