photo: Air guitar never sounded so good.

Air Born

Just because you can't play an instrument, can't dance, and can't hold a tune, doesn't mean you can't be the next Van Halen.

photo: Meet Fatima Hoang, the air guitar champ.

"It's a way to be a rock star without the annoying parts, like groupies."

All you need is something that costs nothing and weighs even less: an air guitar.

Every summer in northern Finland, music lovers from around the globe gather to compete for the title Air Guitar World Champion. In 2002, New Yorkers Kriston Rucker and Cedric Devitt wanted to compete, but found that the U.S. wasn't represented at the event. So, they set out to organize the U.S. Air Guitar Championships. Now, people around the country compete in regional events; winners then battle at the U.S. Finals (the 2006 date and location have yet to be announced). The U.S. champion then heads to Finland to strum air with the best of them.

"It's a way to be a rock star without the annoying parts, like groupies," says Rucker, whose passion has given birth not only to a competition but also to a line of clothing and even a film. "As an air guitarist, you can play venues where serious bands play. Getting up on that kind of stage is an experience that can really change someone's life."

Interested in becoming a professional player of nothing? Here's an air guitar primer.

MOST POPULAR SONGS
"Rocking in the Free World" by Neil Young and "Ace of Spades" by Motörhead. Compilation CDs of air guitar favorites abound.

JUDGING
Competitors get rated on three points:

Stage Presence - You may be able to play in your own bedroom, but you need to make it interesting for an audience of 5,000 people.

Technical ability - Most air guitarists don't mimic individual chords, but they use rhythm and fingering to look as if they're really playing something.

Airness - Rucker and Devitt define this as "The extent to which a performance transcends the imitation of a real guitar and becomes an art form in and of itself."

RULES
Competitors get 60 seconds to perform. In round one, you choose the song. In round two, the judges pick the song to which everyone performs. Pity those who attempt to play any other "instrument." "Air drums may be the next big thing, but you can't do it in our event," says Rucker. "You'll get disbarred."

IDEOLOGY
It's all about peace. "The Finns like to point out that if everyone in the world was holding an air guitar, they couldn't also hold a weapon, and world peace would therefore just happen," Rucker explains. "I think it could work."

Posted on April 17, 2006