List 5: Familiarity with musical instruments

List 5: Familiarity with musical instruments, 1980s and 2000s.

Surveys 1985/86, 1987 and 2004. Those interviewed were asked to mention as many musical instruments as they could. When no more instruments could be mentioned anymore, the unmentioned instruments were read from a list, and the people were asked whether they recognised them as musical instruments. The assumption was that the instruments not mentioned nor recognised were unknown to the interviewee. Listed are the percentages of those interviewed mentioning or recognising the name of a particular musical instrument in the surveys of the 1980s and the survey in 2004. For example, in the 1980s, 67% of the people knew or recognised hand-clapping as a musical instrument while in the 2000s this was 98%. In the 2000s, hand-clapping had either become better known or, as is the case here, it was recognised by more people as a musical instrument.

Under ‘change’ the change in familiarity with the instrument is indicated: red for a decrease and green for an increase. In general, well-known instruments have become more well-known, and less known instruments have become even less known but not completely forgotten.