Masterßlaster - famous Air Guitars are offered free:



Left handed and/or bass also available at no extra charge, free delivery via e-mail. These Air Guitars are manufactured from genuine high quality oxygen and with proper care (a little occasional dusting) will last a lifetime - guaranteed. Limited edition, get yours now while stocks last ! Beware of imitations. Diligent study of illustration above will reveal the essence of Air Guitar. Pick it up, it's yours! ;)

I've diligently scoured the internet for the best information on Air Guitar and unashamedly recycled it all into this web page especially for you.

Wouldn't you rather have a free real guitar?
Yes: AG - Air Guitar championships offer prizes of real, free electric guitars. Read on...
No: You are a true Air Guitar devotee. Well done. Want to learn more about Air Guitar? Read on...

GREAT FUN, HEED THE CALL - NO GUITAR AT ALL - What Air Guitar is all about is to surrender to the music without having an actual instrument or special skills. Air Guitar has been played for as long as electric guitars have wailed as the ultimate instrument of rock music and the guitar heroes of rock bands have been adored as idols. But what was previously a hobby to be pursued at home alone in front of the mirror or behind closed bedroom doors is now a public stage show in front of thousands of people. The event that started out as an absurd idea attracts and interests people all around the world.

AG - Air Guitar Championships held annually during August at the OMVF - Oulu Music Video Festival in Finland are the culmination of international contests that offer prizes of real, free electric guitars. The best Air Guitarist will be awarded with a unique hand-made Finnish "Flying Finn" electric guitar, worth €2500. The instrument to bring shivers down the spine of every guitarist. Matt Nevalainen , from Finnish Guitar Works, has made it with love and care. For Air Guitarists, it is a very special item, being the prize for the Air Guitar World Champion as shown here:



Air Guitar devotees and first class lunatics are encouraged to "practice till their fingers bleed". It is sure to be unique, and the spirit of playing Air Guitar is guaranteed to be present, making the world a better place!

Check out these performance training photographs below. Only attempt after first consulting with your physician:



As any performing Air Guitarist will tell you, there's no such thing as becoming an "overnight sensation". It takes hours, sometimes days, of honing your chops, waiting for your break to arrive. But mastering your instrument isn't enough. You've got to have stage presence, charisma, ATTITUDE. Now some say attitude can't be taught, only acquired. Don't worry. By reading this text you've already proven you have what it takes to rock and roll in the big leagues. All you need is a little polish to take your Air Guitar on the road. Every Air Guitarist needs a stage name, either original or recycled. My Air Guitarist stage name reflects the latter and a new direction in life: Björn Türoque ! ;)

"The Best Air Guitar Album in the World... Ever!" double compact disc serial 72438112952 compiled by Brian May at Virgin Records, includes performance training illustrations and a free Air Guitar, Rock on!!!

It doesn't matter what it sounds like, it's what you get out of it that counts. Remember where you heard it first ! ;)

A Freedom Movement survey has concluded that... 34% of men who pick up a tennis racket cannot resist using it to play Air Guitar.

Playing Air Guitar is a form of dance and movement in which the performer pretends to play rock or heavy metal-style electric guitar solos. Playing an Air Guitar usually consists of exaggerated strumming and picking motions and is often coupled with loud singing or lip-synching. Air Guitar is generally used in the imaginary simulation of loud electric guitar music.

Origins - Examples of Air Guitar activities occurred in the late 1970s. Robin Yeatman, a patron of the Heavy Metal club, "The Soundhouse", in London, made cardboard guitars and played them on stage. Soon many others started making their own "guitars". This soon became a trend.

The roots of Air Guitar go back much earlier. The father of Air Guitar might be Joe Cocker, who actively demonstrated an Air Guitar technique on stage. During the guitar solo lead-in to his live performance of "With a Little Help from My Friends" at the Woodstock Music Festival in 1969, he can be observed simulating the music with his hands, sans guitar.

Preceding that date by twelve years, Bill Reed, of The Diamonds, during a live TV performance, is seen playing the "Air Guitar" while doing his recitation on the song, "Words of Love". This performance, circa 1957, has been added to YouTube from a kinescope recording.

Contests - Organized Air Guitar competitions are regularly held in many countries. The first on-off Air Guitar competitions have been organized in the early 1980s in Sweden and in the United States. Since 1996 the annual Air Guitar World Championships contest has been a part of the Oulu Music Video Festival in Oulu, Finland which nowadays governs Air Guitar World Championships Network of official national championship competitions. The idea of the contest was originally coined as a joke, meant only to be a side attraction for the music video festival.

In 2009 the network consisted of twenty countries: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Japan, Kenya, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, Russia, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, 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 selection of their own choosing. Typically the song has been edited (or a medley has been created) to fit the 60-second format.

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 forbidden. Some events make an exception for a real guitar pick, some don't.

Jury consists of independent judges, usually B-list musicians, music critics, comedians, or other members of the media.

Judges use the same 6.0 score system as in figure skating: there are several criteria, each judge must give the contestant a score from 4.0 to 6.0 on each of the criteria.

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.

Annual world championships (full name: "The Annual Air Guitar World Championship Contest") were first held in 1996 as part of the Oulu Music Video Festival in Oulu, Finland. Participants from all over the world competed in skills of playing Air Guitar. The judging panel included Finnish guitarist Juha Torvinen, and prizes included a custom made 'Flying Finn' guitar and VOX BM Special amplifier donated by Queen guitarist Brian May.

The purpose of the Air Guitar World Championship is to promote world peace. According to the ideology of the Air Guitar, wars end, climate change stops and all bad things disappear, if all the people in the world played Air Guitar. This why the whole universe is invited to play Air Guitar to the Neil Young classic "Rocking in the Free World" for world peace at the end of the competition.

Links to some of my sources:

Air Guitar UK - The home of Full Air conditioning

Air Guitar World Championships - To promote world peace

Bud Philson Air Guitar - To Air is Human

Usual Disclaimer - All expressions in this communication are personal opinions of the author (not aware of violating © Copyright but will delete if brought to attention) and do not represent a commitment. Contents for private study use only. But... how do you copyright something that doesn't actually exist?! External hypertext links from this web page are of concern to me upon receiving notification that they connect to inappropriate content. Advice of errors, broken links or any persistent dysfunctional operation of this web page welcome. Thank you to all who have contributed their Air Guitar playing information to this online resource.

With best wishes,
Bob Houlston #==(o )

Tel: St Albans 01727 851809.
p.s. Love is in the Air!




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