Air guitar

Encyclopedia : A : AI : AIR : Air guitar

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Air guitar is the act of pretending to play guitar, consisting of an exaggerated strumming motion and often coupled with loud singing or lip-synching. Air guitar is generally used in the imaginary simulation of loud electric guitar music, especially rock, heavy metal, and so on. Although it is acceptable to play air guitar to acoustic songs, it is an act traditionally left to rock. Headbanging is often used in conjunction with an air guitar. Real guitar players also often play air guitar quite accurately while listening to their favourite artists.

Musical artists often instinctively follow the rhythm and mood of their music with their body while they play which is also a means of identifying metre and keeping time. In rock music, many guitarists exaggerate these movements to make them a part of their performance; some even add acrobatic stunts, the choreography becoming their distinctive characteristic. Their fans often mimic their idol's movements in adoration, and can become swept away by the music. Playing air guitar can be considered a specialised form of dance.

For some, playing air guitar has become a hobby in itself, and they pride their ability to mimic the style of countless artists. In fact, organised air guitar competitions are regularly held in many countries, and since 1996 The Annual Air Guitar World Championship contest has been a part of the Oulu Music Video Festival in Oulu, Finland. The first organised air guitar competition in the UK was held in 1994, in Australia in 2002, and in the United States in 2003.

Some artists have raised air guitar to a whole new level: American arena rock band Journey was featured air-guitaring and air-playing their respective instruments in the video for their single "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)." Similarly, Swedish extreme metal band Meshuggah's video for their song "New Millennium Cyanide Christ" features the five band members sitting in their tour bus and playing the song on their respective air guitars, air drums, and air microphone (a red pen). Another band to use air guitar is the now defunct Five Iron Frenzy, a ska group whose lead singer, Reese Roper, and horn players would play air guitar when not playing their instrument or singing. Dani Filth of Cradle of Filth is briefly shown playing an air guitar in the video for "Her Ghost in the Fog".

Innovations

Students from the Helsinki University of Technology have developed a system that translates hand movements into electric guitar sounds, resulting in a functional air guitar [link].

See also

• crowd surfing
• headbanging
• list of dances
• moshing
• stage diving

External links

• [The Air Guitar World Championships]
• [The US Air Guitar Championships]
• [The UK Air Guitar Championships]
• [Student studying for a degree in Air Guitar]
• [The Virtual Air Guitar Company]