Some 13% of five- to 17-year-olds play the electric guitar, compared with 12% for the violin.
Keyboard is the most popular instrument, played by 30% of the 1,726 children, questioned by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music.
The figures suggest a music boom - but poorer children may be missing out.
Some 76% of children aged five to 14 told the researchers they knew how to play an instrument compared with 41% in 1999.
Compared with 1999 there has been rise in instrumental learning an across the board, with increasing numbers of children playing a wider variety of instruments and some children playing two or more, suggests the report.
Back in 1999, the recorder was the most popular instrument among this age group, with 19% learning, just 2% of children played the violin and 1%, the electric guitar.
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