Air guitar
The air guitar is an imaginary electric guitar played in pantomime . The air guitar player shows playing an electric guitar in non-verbal communication with his facial expressions and gestures . Typical for this is the posture and movement of the arms and hands . The figures shown include, for example, the duckwalk and the windmill . Since the complete body movement of electric guitar players is typically imitated to the beat , a kind of dance is created . One evaluation criterion is the airiness of the performing person. The World Air Guitar Federation defines airness as the ability to “ transcend air guitar playing beyond mere imitation ”. Some air guitar players also imitate guitar tones with their singing .
history
The air guitar became popular in 1969 at the Woodstock Festival through the appearance of Joe Cocker , who even accompanied his air guitar playing live with vocals. The popularity of the air guitar has continued to grow since the 1970s, especially through hard rock , heavy metal and punk music .
The German writer Friedrich Ani dedicated a novel to the air guitar in 2003 ( Süd und der Luftgitaristen ), in which the brother of a missing soccer player (FC Bayern Munich) appears in the final of the German championship in the air guitar game in Munich. The missing person is wanted by a police officer (Munich Police, Department 11) who also wants to appear as a musician in this finale. This finale takes place in a Munich pub in total chaos and between enthusiastic fans.
research
The German lecturer for media studies Mathias Mertens ( University of Hildesheim ) researches the air guitar , conducts seminars on the topic of media aesthetic considerations on the air guitar and participates in competitions himself. He writes: The air guitar was created as a reaction to music that can be experienced collectively, it is an expression of participation in rock culture and it only functions as feedback in a control loop of aesthetic production and reception. Accordingly, the air guitar only works for an audience that knows and has internalized the characters and attitudes shown.
Competitions
Since 1996 the Air Guitar World Championship has been held annually in Oulu ( Finland ) as part of the Oulun Musiikkivideofestivaalit ( Oulu Music Video Festival ). In 2004 the German Air Guitar Federation was founded as a regional association , which has hosted the German Air Guitar Championship ever since. As in many other competitions, the performances of the participants are rated according to the criteria of the Air Guitar World Championships . Both air guitars and air plectras are allowed in the competitions . Roadies can also be brought to the competitions. Performances after a piece of music of your choice and a given song each last 60 seconds.
In 2011, the 27-year-old Aline Westphal from Burgwedel won the air guitar world championship and was the first to bring the title to Germany. She came to the air guitar in 2008 through Mertens' seminar at the University of Hildesheim and is working there on a thesis on the cultural history of the air guitar .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ John McKenna, Michael Moffitt: The Complete Air Guitar Handbook, p. 47 , 1981, Pocket Books, ISBN 978-0671496777
- ^ Peter Buckley: The Rough Guide to Rock, p. 1763 , 3rd Edition, Rough Guides, 1999, ISBN 978-1858284576
- ↑ Airguitaronline.com: Airstory a record of air guitar history trivia and miscellany ( Memento of the original from March 28, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. accessed on December 28, 2014
- ^ Friedrich Ani: Süd und der Luftgitarrist, Roman, Knaur Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 2003
- ↑ Seminar: Media-aesthetic considerations on the air guitar in the summer semester 2011, University of Hildesheim (accessed on January 3, 2012)
- ↑ Mathias Mertens: Praise of the air guitar. Music is immaterial. ( Memento of the original from August 7, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Friday , February 5, 2009, 6th week, page 23.
- ↑ The Devil's Niece , Der Tagesspiegel , August 27, 2011
