In the era of large surveys it is crucial to find the best compromise between telescope and instrument requirements and scientific goals. Photometric surveys deliver numerous targets for spectroscopic follow-up. High-resolution spectroscopy is focused on detailed chemical abundances of stars, but faint stars in the bulge demand a lot of telescope time to get enough signal-to-noise for this type of analysis. Therefore, low-resolution spectroscopy seems to be the most suitable choice in the case of the bulge, because it provides spectra for a large number of faint bulge stars with enough signal-to-noise and resolution to derive radial velocities, atmospheric parameters (Teff, logg, [Fe/H]), and chemical abundances for a few key elements, such as [alpha/Fe]. This set of parameters can already describe the big picture of bulge chemical evolution history and stellar populations, not to mention the selection of chemically interesting targets for high-resolution follow-up. In this talk I will describe the current (e.g. FORS2, MUSE, Gaia) and future instruments (e.g. 4MOST) that deliver low-resolution spectra of bulge stars, their respective surveys, and some results.