Plucking the strings

Bill Turnbull gets some tuition from guitarist Phil Hilborne

Britain has taken the guitar to its heart - the strings have never been so popular with sales now at an all time high.

Musicians are splashing out more than a £100 million on Gibsons, Eastons and much coveted Fenders.

And it is not just new instruments making the music. Apparently many of us are dusting down old guitars and playing them again.

Breakfast asked why plucking the strings was so popular. Our presenters Bill Turnbull and Julia George had a go at playing themselves.

We also spoke to Phil Hilborne, guitarist in the stage musical 'We Will Rock You' and Paul McMannus, a self confessed ageing rocker and chief executive of the Music Industry Association.

Phil told us that our growing love of the guitar could be down to the increasing number of guitar based bands.

He said it was an easy instrument to learn and have fun with quickly but mastering it could take many years.

He said: "It is the perfect portable way of expressing yourself. You can have it on the beach. You can take it to a party.

"People should be getting their guitars out and playing them. It is one the hardest instruments to get good at because you never stop learning."

Paul McMannus said the majority of guitars sold last year were electric but acoustic guitars were becoming more popular.

"We're delighted as an industry. They are certainly much cheaper to buy than they were some years ago."

He said: "It is not only the youth wanting to play guitars, it is people from the baby boomer generation wanting to play again."