Guitar Center, the world's largest musical instrument retailer recently announced the findings of their national survey. The survey confirms that gamers who played Rock Band and Guitar Hero have become more interested in playing real instruments and not just the game peripherals. In addition, musicians who play the games use their actual instruments more frequently because of the games.

The survey found that 67% of Guitar Hero and Rock Band players who do not currently play a musical instrument said that they are likely to begin playing a real instrument in the next two years, thanks to the Activision and Harmonix titles. More surprisingly, 72% of musicians have spend more time playing the real thing since they started playing the titles.

As a result, Guitar Center sales in the last quarter of 2007 experienced a +20.7% boost for beginner-level electric guitars and amplifiers. This number grew even further to +26.9% during the first nine months of 2008.

Guitar Center executive VP and Chief Marketing Officer Norman Hajjar has this to say,

This spike of interest in playing actual instruments stemming from a video game is an unprecedented phenomenon. Most video games sell fantasy, but Guitar Hero and Rock Band are selling a dream that can be realized. These games plant an achievable goal in the heart of the player and that, in turn, drives our business.

To get more gamers to convert into musicians, Guitar Center has created the "Real Guitar" campaign, which gets gamers to pick up a real instrument during the holidays.

I don't know about the survey, but it seems a bit inconclusive, especially the ones saying that they're likely to purchase real instruments. Naturally, they'd want to be musicians since they play the games, but it doesn't mean that they're gonna follow through and become actual musicians. They would find that the level of skill and dedication required in playing a real guitar is very different from that of pushing buttons on a peripheral.

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