Everybody wants to rock out. Even if you have never touched an instrument or your parents forced you to play clarinet, you still have a chance at rock-and-roll glory. Regardless of your musical abilities, anyone can be a star when your instrument is the invisible, glorious air guitar. 

Wikipedia defines air guitar as "a form of dance in which the performer pretends 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." 

If you think air guitar is for kids or those with mental ailments, think again. Air guitar is serious business - organized air guitar contests have been held since the 1980s. The sport went global in 1996, when the first Air Guitar World Championships were held in Oulu, Finland. They're still held there annually. 

Air guitar competitions use the same 6.0 scoring system as figure skating and are rated by a panel of judges, typically celebrities or music critics. Competitors are scored on their performance in three areas: technical merit (if it looks like real guitar playing), stage presence (quality of the show), and airness (as Wikipedia defines it, "how much the performance was an object of art by itself, not only a simulation of playing guitar").

Like figure skating, organized air guitar contests consist of two rounds and last one minute each.  During the first round, the air guitarist plays a song of their choice, which can be edited.  However, the second song is selected by an opponent or an organizer and the competitor has no prior knowledge of this song.  Although costumes are not required, they are encouraged. 

Air guitar may sound like a joke, but many people take these competitions to heart. There has even been a documentary made about this phenomenon, "Air Guitar Nation", and books published, such as "To Air is Human: One Man's Quest to Become the World's Greatest Air Guitarist." 

So if you want some rock and roll fame, you’d better dust off the old air guitar, break out those albums and start practicing, because competition is tough in the circuit.  Just remember, the guitar might be imaginary, but the groupies are real.

Posted by Rhonda.