It is believed that air guitar possibly originated from early Iron Maiden fans in the late 1970's. In the Iron Maiden DVD "The Early Years", former and current band members talk about their early fans coming to shows with wooden cutout guitars and would emulate what was being played on stage. Eventually, the practice caught on with other fans, some of which did not have a homemade guitar and would just rock out on their "air guitars". This article is about the band. ...

However, that belief is apparently wrong, because Musician Joe Cocker was possibly one of the first musicians to actively demonstrate 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. Joe Cocker OBE (born John Robert Cocker, 20 May 1944, Sheffield) is an English rock/blues singer who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice and his cover versions of popular songs. ... Woodstock may refer to: Woodstock Music and Art Festival, a 1969 U.S. rock festival which inspired a 1970 Warner Bros. ... Also: 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ...

Contests

Wikinews has related news:

Japanese man retains title at Air Guitar World Championship in Finland

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[1] of official national championship competitions. In 2007 the network consisted of seventeen countries: USA, Finland, Canada, The Netherlands, Austria, Greece, Mexico, Norway, United Kingdom, Switzerland, France, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.
Rules have much in common with figure skating, especially using 6.0 score system. The most common set of rules are as following: Image File history File links WikiNews-Logo. ... Wikinews is a free-content news source and a project of the Wikimedia Foundation. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... Founded in 1994, annual festival of music video, cinema, live music, and air guitar world championships, held in Oulu, Finland. ... Location of Oulu in Northern Europe Coordinates: , Country Finland Province Oulu Province Region Northern Ostrobothnia Sub-region Oulu sub-region Charter 1605 Government  - City manager Matti Pennanen Area  - City 449. ... Figure skating is an ice skating sporting event where individuals, mixed couples, or groups perform spins, jumps, and other moves on the ice, often to music. ... Figure skating is an ice skating sporting event where individuals, mixed couples, or groups perform spins, jumps, and other moves on the ice, often to music. ...

• 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 famous musicians or music critics.
• 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. 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.

Improvisation is the act of making something up as you go along. ... The road crew (or roadies) are the technicians who travel on tour, usually in sleeper buses, with musicians and who handle every part of the production except actually playing the music. ... A groupie is a person who, while he/she may be a fan at some level, seeks intimacy (most often physical, sometimes emotional) with a famous person. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... An effects pedal, or stomp box, is an effects unit housed in a small metal chassis, used by musicians, usually electric guitar players as a guitar effects pedal, but sometimes players of other instruments including keyboards, violin, or cello. ... Various guitar picks. ... Guitar moves are moves or stunts, which are done involving (most commonly) an electric guitar or bass guitar. ...

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 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 ideology behind the event was that "wars would end and all the bad things would go away if everyone just played air guitar". Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Founded in 1994, annual festival of music video, cinema, live music, and air guitar world championships, held in Oulu, Finland. ... Location of Oulu in Northern Europe Coordinates: , Country Finland Province Oulu Province Region Northern Ostrobothnia Sub-region Oulu sub-region Charter 1605 Government  - City manager Matti Pennanen Area  - City 449. ... Vox is a musical equipment manufacturer formerly based in Britain, and now owned by Japanese electronics giants Korg, which is most famous for making the AC30 guitar amplifier and the Vox organ. ... Queen are an English rock band formed in 1970 in London by guitarist Brian May, singer Freddie Mercury and drummer Roger Taylor, with bassist John Deacon joining the following year. ... For the Australian film composer, see Brian May (composer). ...

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. Location of Oulu in Northern Europe Coordinates: , Country Finland Province Oulu Province Region Northern Ostrobothnia Sub-region Oulu sub-region Charter 1605 Government  - City manager Matti Pennanen Area  - City 449. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The top 7 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
• 6.(tie) Craig "Hot Lixx Hulahan" Billmeier (USA)
• 6.(tie) Rainer "Le Freak" Fussgänger (AUT)

List of World Championships

Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st Century. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... This article is about the year. ... Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ... For the band, see 1997 (band). ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ...

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.

Björn Türoque

Björn Türoque, author and perennial second-best air guitarist

Björn Türoque (pronounced "byorn too 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. Image File history File linksMetadata Björn_Türoque. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Björn_Türoque. ... The heavy metal umlaut, or rock dots, is an umlaut over letters in the name of a heavy metal band, such as Mötley Crüe or Motörhead. ... This article is about blends. ... It has been suggested that Karaoke clubs in Sri Lanka be merged into this article or section. ...

On September 14, 2006, Björn appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. is the 257th day of the year (258th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Late Night with Conan OBrien is an American late night talk show that is syndicated worldwide. ...

Türoque also plays real bass guitar in the "faux-French" band Nous Non Plus under the name Jean-Luc Retard. The electric bass guitar (or electric bass) is a bass stringed instrument played with the fingers by plucking, slapping, popping or using a pick. ... Nous Non Plus is a french indie rock band based out of New York City. ...

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. Helsinki University of Technology (TKK) (Finnish: Teknillinen korkeakoulu; Swedish: Tekniska högskolan) is the premier technical university in Finland and the largest in the Nordic Countries with over 15000 students. ...

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] [2] audio snippet Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is the national government body for scientific research in Australia. ...

References

1. ^ Turoque, Björn (2006). To Air is Human: One Man's Quest to Become the World's Greatest Air Guitarist. Riverhead Trade. ISBN 978-1594482106. 
2. ^ Knight, Will. "Air guitarists’ rock dreams come true", New Scientist, 2005-11-28. Retrieved on 2006-08-02. 
3. ^ Helmer, Richard. "It's not rocket science... it's rockin' science", CSIRO, 2006-11-13. Retrieved on 2006-11-14. 

New Scientist is a weekly international science magazine covering recent developments in science and technology for a general English-speaking audience. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 332nd day of the year (333rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 214th day of the year (215th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is the national government body for scientific research in Australia. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 317th day of the year (318th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 318th day of the year (319th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

• crowd surfing
• headbanging
• list of dances
• moshing
• stage diving
• guitar solo
• Guitar Hero

This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Headbangers in action, at DarkLights club Omega in Johannesburg, South Africa Headbanging is a type of dance which involves violently shaking the head in time with music, most commonly heavy metal music, even though similar dances have been performed along other types of music for a long time (to... This is the main list of dances. ... This article or section should include material from mosh pit. ... Stage diving is the act of leaping from a concert stage into the crowd below. ... The guitar is used in many genres to provide rhythmic and harmonic accompaniment to a voice or other instrument, or to fill in the harmony in a ensemble. ... This article is about the 2005 video game. ...

External links

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)
• México - [3] by Takis de Barcel

Articles

• Behind the Scenes at the US Air Guitar Championships - Photos and interviews with the 2007 Washington DC finalists
• 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
• Air Guitar Nation Rocks On - Video clips and interview with the world air guitar champion
• Music for the imaginary ax man - Msnbc article following the life of an air guitarist.

Other

• BBC Blast - Dance - Downloads Watch downloadable dance clips from BBC Blast.
• 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
• Airguitar Art
• Joe Cocker Performance
• Air Guitar Nation Feature Film

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