Why kids are no longer playing music. Maybe.

[Bilbo]

I was walking my dogs lunchtime and realised that I cannot remember the last time I heard a musician practising through an open window. I used to hear it all of the time when I grew up, guitars, drums, saxophones etc but it is a very rare occurence now. I got to thinking how, when I was a kid in the 70s, everybody was trying to play, everyone was singing with a tennis racquet in front of the mirror, making drum kits out of saucepans etc. I wonder how much of it is because it is so rare for us to see any decent music on the TV that isn't just a singer or singers with backing tracks/musicians out of sight. I just don't think kids SEE musicians any more. Most young players I know are the children of musicians so they obviously do see musicians but I think we lack a presence in the minds of a lot of kids.

Alternatively, is it just that kids are wiser and don't see the end result of 15 minutes of fame/being exploited by record comapnies etc as justifying the investment required. They may be right. If I did it for the money, I woudl have given up years ago!!

[CamdenRob]

Think it's just more competition for kids attention these days... xboxes etc.

That and the fact that most kids lives are spent on facebook trying to make themselves look interesting to other people....

Edited September 16, 2014 by CamdenRob

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited February 28, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[HowieBass]

Perhaps kids these days see other ways to achieve fame and fortune, more specifically Warhol's prediction come true of 'in the future everybody will be world-famous for 15 minutes'... stuff like reality TV and YouTube personalities.

[xilddx]

Why would a kid WANT to play an instrument these days? That's the first question.

Anyway, kids DO play them http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-29117849

Lots of instruments are playable with headphones now, technology has improved. So you can practice til your heart's content without being an anti social ***t

[BetaFunk]

I'd be interested to know if there are any less kids playing instruments today than say 50 years ago. When i was at school in the 60s we didn't have a musical department in either junior or secondary school i went to and i only had one friend who played and practiced regularly (his Dad was a semi-pro musician).
All of my friends who learned to play did it in when they were in their teens and could afford an instrument through either a paper round or later full time work.

[xilddx]

Bilbo lives in a place where windows are rare, East Anglia

I live in London, I hear mostly drummers practicing, but sometimes guitars, and occasionally horns.

[Bilbo]

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1410883532' post='2554293']
Bilbo lives in a place where windows are rare, East Anglia

[/quote]

Maybe I live in a place where the houses are far enough apart from each other to mitigate the noise, unlike London where they stack 'em high and everyone shares their lving space with 100 other people!!

[odysseus]

Simon bloody Cowell has a lot to do with it. He's trying to finish what Stock, Aitken and Waterman started - the removal of musical talent from fame. Having said that, while there may be proportionately less kids learning an instrument than in previous times, it appears to me that the quality of what is coming through has improved greatly. I would say that this is down to software like Guitar Pro etc, sites like Ultimate Guitar where you can get tabs to play along to, as well as the free lessons and stuff you can get on youtube and other sites. So it's not all bad... I've seen some cracking bands and artists out playing, and that's just in Cornwall - the arse-end of the country.

[xilddx]

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1410883799' post='2554300']
Maybe I live in a place where the houses are far enough apart from each other to mitigate the noise, unlike London where they stack 'em high and everyone shares their lving space with 100 other people!!
[/quote]

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1410882400' post='2554270']
I was walking my dogs lunchtime and realised that I cannot remember the last time I heard a musician practising through an open window. I used to hear it all of the time when I grew up, guitars, drums, saxophones etc but it is a very rare occurence now.
[/quote]

Every time I walk my dog I hear a musician practising through a window. Sometimes piano, sometimes clarinet, flute, vocals, all sorts. All from the same building though where I'm assuming a music teacher lives...

[Marvin]

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1410883532' post='2554293']
Bilbo lives in a place where windows are rare, East Anglia

I live in London, I hear mostly drummers practicing, but sometimes guitars, and occasionally horns.
[/quote]

If you insist on living in the red light district you've only got yourself to blame if you here people playing with horns...

[xilddx]

[quote name='Marvin' timestamp='1410885652' post='2554339']
If you insist on living in the red light district you've only got yourself to blame if you here people playing with horns...
[/quote]

Ahh, the ol' bone flute eh?

[Grangur]

If we're to believe that role-models have an effect on youth, then talent shows don't help, when all they seem only interested in the voice - thanks to Simon Cowell and others.

Also, when you see a band on the box, the camera seems to always be pointed at the singer. They seldom show the instrument being played.

[ambient]

I didn't realise kids had stopped playing instruments. Doesn't bode well for my future, I was planning on being a music teacher after I graduate .

I have a kid across the road who plays guitar, there's another lad 3 doors along who plays drums.

Walking to the train station yesterday morning, I know that I saw kids carrying violins, guitars and wind instruments going to the various schools by me.

[lojo]

Plenty of kids playing music, but there is a big difference between a kid who goes a tutor and goes through the motions to a kid who's so into playing that they have to be dragged off of it to have a bath and eat.

[BetaFunk]

[quote name='odysseus' timestamp='1410884050' post='2554310']
Simon bloody Cowell has a lot to do with it. He's trying to finish what Stock, Aitken and Waterman started - the removal of musical talent from fame.
[/quote]
That started a long time before any of those were in the music business.

[Black Coffee]

There's more distractions now than ever before so less time to focus on creative stuff like music.

Playstation, Nintendo, Xbox, sky TV with 250 channels, Skype, Internet, mobile phones with more gimmicks and gizmos than fifty gremlins films. That's just the stuff thats obvious. Facebook, Twitter, emails, txt messages, whatsapp. By the time you do the rounds of all your accounts each day you are ready for bed, not for bass playing.

[Bassman Steve]

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1410886122' post='2554343']
Ahh, the ol' bone flute eh?
[/quote]

I thought Peter Cook's 'pink oboe' was rather a good alternative.

[Thunderbird]

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1410882669' post='2554275']
Think it's just more competition for kids attention these days... xboxes etc.

That and the fact that most kids lives are spent on facebook trying to make themselves look interesting to other people....
[/quote] Think you hit the nail on the head there mate

[BigRedX]

If it's true, is it a problem that "kids" are no longer playing music?

[fumps]

I used to live in a shared house with 4 other young lads, we were propper party animals (Tame in the way that all our neighbours used to regurlaly ask us for favours, climbing through windows when keys were lost & student girls who asked needed leaking pipes fixing.....ooo matron) we were loud but approachable lol

Anyway all summer we used to sit in the back garden drinking beer, listening to someone playing a famous jazz tune on clarinet (Dont ask me the name of it, but I could hum it for you) .....all summer it was getting better & better.

One day when we were all listening, the person got it perfect......we all cheered & clapped when it stopped......then in the distance we heard a "thank you" lol .I love hearing anyone practicing & I think it's a shame that less people play instruments. ......apart from bagpipes.....thats not a good noise

[steve-bbb]

to a degree i guess it depends on how well the music scene in felixstowe is thriving and how well the local education authority promote music in schools ?

here in Medway we have had an art college for many decades now which is a big driver of young local originals bands and more recently also universities bringing even more students/music in to the area

a decent local music shop is also a good stimulus - we are fortunate enough to have Manny's Music in chatham which is currently stocking more vinyl than CD's (and selling very well) and also stocks a good range of affordable guitars basses acoustics amps and effects and also acts as a sort of drop in hub for all the local bands

the only downside is Medway Council seem to blazing a trail for councils everywhere in regard to noise abatement orders targetted at long standing well established live music venues

[cheddatom]

I don't think it's the case that less people are playing music. Could it be to do with better insulation and double glazing etc? Plus all the electric instruments. I always wanted a drum kit when I was growing up, but my parents wouldn't let me due to the noise. If I'd been able to get an electric kit I'm sure they would have allowed it.

Also maybe people are becomming more considerate? I know when I was a kid we'd play at full volume in a garage in the middle of a housing estate, and we got a lot of complaints

[Bottle]

Some interesting points above.

Anyone been catching the programs on Channel 4 - Don't Stop The Music? Seems like a lot of the issues are now down to music (or the lack of it) being taught regularly in school from Primary age. Too much focus has been given over to the technical and communication subjects i.e maths, English and the sciences. Don't get me wrong, all of those are important and what we need as a society to function in an increasingly technology-dependant world. What I feel we are missing is the funding for the arts and so much of it has to compete to get money from an increasingly smaller pot.

I think this has been best summed up by Sir Ken Robinson in his famous TED Talk video on YouTube.

A point that James Rhodes was trying to make is lots of people have unused instruments gathering dust, and as bassists we're guilty of that just as much. I've gone though several basses, one I gave away to a friend, the other is on long-term loan to another friend. I'm down to just two basses now. Have any of us looked at our collection and wondered if we really need five P-basses and whether someone else, maybe a school kid would be better off with it?

Just a few thoughts....