Air guitar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An Air guitar is the imaginary instrument used when pretending to play guitar. Playing an air guitar consists of an exaggerated strumming motion and is 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.
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[edit] History
The origins of the air guitar is highly debated among fans and practitioners. Some claim it originated in England during the New Wave of British Heavy Metal era during the mid to late 1970s[citation needed]. The person most likely to be the originator of the air guitar is Rob Loonhouse who was one of the many visitors of the club The Soundhouse in North West London back in 1975-76.[citation needed] He was widely known for showing up playing air guitar and later cardboard and hardboard guitars. This practice soon gained many followers with eventually several dozen people in front of the stage, and eventually on stage, playing various degrees of air and board guitars[citation needed].
[edit] Technique
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.
[edit] Contests
Organized 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. On-off air guitar competitions have been organized in the early 1980's in Sweden and in the United States.
Rules have much in common with figure skating, especially using 6.0 score system. The most common set of rules are as following:
- Each participant has to play air guitar on stage in two rounds, each lasting for 1 minute.
- Round 1: participant plays a section of the song of their own choosing; obviously it's a home-prepared show.
- Round 2: participant plays a section of the song chosen by an organizer or competitor; usually the song is not announced beforehand and kept secret until the round begins, so a participant has to improvise.
- Participant plays alone; backing bands, either with real or air instruments are not allowed; roadies and groupies are allowed to make up some image, but they have to leave the stage before performance.
- Participant has to play air guitar (i.e. air drums, piano and other instruments are not allowed). Air guitar can be acoustic, electric or both.
- Generally, there is no dress code and participant is encouraged to use any clothing and props that would add character and make the performance more interesting. However, any real musical equipment or crew (instruments, amplifiers, effect pedals, backing band members, etc) are strictly not allowed. Some events make an exception for a real guitar pick, some don't.
- Jury consists of independent judges, usually famous musicians or music critics.
- Judges use the same 6.0 score system as in figure skating: there are several criterias, each judge must give the contestant a score from 4.0 to 6.0 on each of the criterias. One lowest and one highest scores get discarded, all other scores are summed up. The contestant with maximal score wins.
- The criteria may vary, but usually the following is accounted:
- Technical merit — how much the performance looks like the real playing, including accurate reproduction of all fretwork, chords, solos and technical moves.
- Stage presence — a charisma of rock star, the ability to rock, lack of stage fright and power to drive thousands of listeners; involves doing guitar moves and other emotional demonstrations.
- Airness — the most subjective criterion, as "presentation" in figure skating — how much the performance was an object of art by itself, not only a simulation of playing guitar.
[edit] World
World championship (or, full name: "The Annual Air Guitar World Championship Contest") was first held in 1996 as part of the Oulu Music Video Festival in Oulu, Finland. Participants from all over the world compete in skills of playing air guitar. The judging panel includes Finnish guitarist Juha Torvinen, and prizes include a custom made 'Flying Finn' guitar and VOX BM Special amplifier donated by Queen guitarist Brian May. The ideology behind the event is that "wars would end and all the bad things would go away if everyone just played air guitar".
[edit] 2006 Championships
The 11th World Air Guitar Championship finals were held in Oulu, Finland in September 2006. Ochi "Dainoji" Yosuke of Japan competed against other international finalists and reigning champion Michael "The Destroyer" Heffels, to win the event.
The top 5 finalists were:
- 1. Ochi "Dainoji" Yosuke of Japan
- 2. Clay "Bangers" Connolly of Australia
- 3. Christian "Heart Buckboard" Sweep of Germany
- 4. Gabriele "The Hoxton Creeper" Matzeu of the United Kingdom
- 5. Takeshi "Takeshi the SAMURI Kongochi" Kongochi of Japan
[edit] List of World Championships
| Year | World Champion | Country | Second Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Ochi "Dainoji" Yosuke | Japan | Clay "Bangers" Connolly of Australia |
| 2005 | Michael "The Destroyer" Heffels | The Netherlands | Giesela "Gizzy Guitar" Visser of New Zealand |
| 2004 | Joint Winners: MiRi "Sonyk-Rok" Park and Tarquin "The Tarkness" Keys | USA and New Zealand | David "C-Diddy" Jung of the USA |
| 2003 | David "C-Diddy" Jung | USA | Jordi "Funky Jordi" Nieuwenburg of The Netherlands |
| 2002 | Zac Monro | UK | Toby Peneha of New Zealand |
| 2001 | Zac Monro | UK | Markus Vainionpää of Finland |
| 2000 | Markus Vainionpää | Finland | Sari Rivinen of Finland |
| 1999 | Johanna Ala-Siurua | Finland | Petteri Tikkanen of Finland |
| 1998 | Juha Hippi | Finland | Teja Kotilainen of Finland |
| 1997 | Ville Paakkari | Finland | Jenni Pääskysaari of Finland |
| 1996 | Oikku Ylinen | Finland | Heko Rehtori of Finland |
[edit] Austria
Championships generally follow international rules with minor exceptions and additions:
- Participation is free.
- Regionals take up to 12 participants. If there are more, additional qualification events take place.
- Federal finals are held in July between the winners of regionals.
- Winner of federal finals is qualified for World Championship in September.
- Participants are allowed to team up to 2, only in regionals. Federal finals are still solo only.
- Order of appearance in a second round is determined by the scores in the first round (highest score air guitarist plays first).
- Jury consists of 5 people. Each of 2 rounds is scored by a single mark from 4.0 to 6.0. Lowest and highest mark get discarded, so only 3 marks are added, thus yielding possible results from 24.0 to 36.0.
[edit] Cultural context
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 was Five Iron Frenzy, a Christian ska band whose lead singer, Reese Roper, and horn players would play air guitar when not playing their instruments or singing. Dani Filth of Cradle of Filth is briefly shown playing an air guitar in the video for "Her Ghost in the Fog".
Björn Türoque (pronounced "byorn to rock," and spelled with heavy metal umlauts; real name: Dan Crane) became a well-known air guitarist as a frequent finalist of World Championships. In 2003–2005 he competed in ten air guitar competitions around the world and came in second place five times out of ten. In 2006, he published a book To Air is Human: One Man's Quest to Become the World's Greatest Air Guitarist[1]. He hosts a set of events named "Aireoke" (a portmanteau of "air guitar" and "karaoke"). These events are held in relatively small local clubs and allow everyone to try becoming a rockstar for 1 minute, playing air guitar in public. Most successful persons performing in aireoke proceed to US championships.
Lately, on September 14, 2006, Björn appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.
Türoque is not just air guitarist, but he also plays real bass guitar in the "faux-French" band Nous Non Plus under the name Jean-Luc Retard.
In Manchester, England, Amanda Griffiths is studying Air Guitar for a PhD at Salford University.
[edit] Innovations
Students from the Helsinki University of Technology developed a system that translates hand movements into electric guitar sounds, resulting in a functional air guitar.[2] The system, consisting of a pair of brightly-coloured gloves and an infrared camera, is one of the most popular exhibits at the Helsinki Science Center. The camera recognizes the distance between the two gloves as well as strumming movements made by the wearer to synthesize an electric guitar tune, working using only six notes. No musical knowledge is necessary.
In November 2006, researchers at the Australian government's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation announced they had developed a t-shirt that senses human movement to "showcase its expertise in designing and manufacturing electronic and intelligent textiles with which people effortlessly control computers", publicising it as an air guitar shirt.[3] [1] audio snippet
[edit] References
- ^ Turoque, Björn (2006). To Air is Human: One Man's Quest to Become the World's Greatest Air Guitarist. Riverhead Trade. ISBN 978-1594482106.
- ^ Knight, Will. "Air guitarists’ rock dreams come true", New Scientist, 2005-11-28. Retrieved on 2006-08-02.
- ^ Helmer, Richard. "It's not rocket science... it's rockin' science", CSIRO, 2006-11-13. Retrieved on 2006-11-14.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] Contests
- World — The Air Guitar World Championships
- US — The US Air Guitar Championships
- UK — Air guitar UK – Official UK Championship
- UK — The UK Air Guitar Championships
- Netherlands — The Dutch Air Guitar Championships
- Germany — The German Air Guitar Federation
- Austria - Österreichische Meisterschaft by All Austrian Airguitar Association (AAAA)
[edit] Articles
- No more silent shredding — A November 2006 Associated Press piece about Air Guitar sound technology.
- "Dude, where's my guitar?" — August 2001 Guardian (UK) feature about the UK championship.
- Student studying for a degree in Air Guitar
[edit] Other
- The Virtual Air Guitar Company
- Hot Lixx Hulahan - 2006 US National Air Guitar Champion
- Amanda Griffiths Air Guitar PhD Blog
- Official C-Diddy Fan Site
