Air Guitar Tips – No Strings Attached!

Here’s talent that’s hardly taken seriously. Ask connoisseurs of this art form, and they’ll have you believe that Air Guitaring, far from being tongue in cheek, is about the tongue being brandished openly and unabashedly, Kiss-style. Suffice it to say, it is an art form whose time is yet to come.

Air guitars, though never seen, are believed to be quite similar to an electric guitar, the notable difference being that it is indeed, made entirely of air. And while it certainly seems easier to master than the conventional one, Air Guitaring has just about one... no, make that two prerequisites – observation and imagination.

When a great 6-year old philosopher once said, “Why bother with years of hard work in pursuit of knowledge, when ignorance is instantaneous?”, he was certainly not talking about air guitaring. Yours truly, having watched several maestros and their air guitars (figuratively speaking) since his days of doing-absolutely-nothing in Manipal, will say that there is more to it than what meets the eye.

The first, and only rule is to overcome your inhibitions. Just as it is with singing, writing, dancing, or even … errr… how do I put it… being great in bed.

Begin by watching others around you. And you’ll easily separate the wheat from the chaff. Most pseudo air guitarists feel conscious, give up playing once they see you observing them, and just relegate themselves to that absolute ‘pain-in-the-neck’ – headbanging! The virtuoso air guitarist is completely oblivious of the people around. Either he’s too engrossed in his performance, or he’s too sloshed to be conscious of his activities.

Air Guitaring is more about understanding the song than the audience. If a song doesn’t inspire you enough or send you on an ‘interstellar overdrive’ in your mind, it’ll never get you to ‘pick up’ your air guitar.

The trick is in choosing the right song. You cannot Air Guitar to N sync, or to 50 cent, not unless you have just consumed Columbia’s gross domestic product by the truckloads.

So start with a good ol’ AC/DC. Or Metallica. Just avoid singing while you are air guitaring. Afterall, Bob Dylan would never cover a Jessica Simpson chartbuster, right?

And once you begin, even if you do screw up, you’ll only stand a good chance of becoming as glamorous as the corner barstool in your favourite watering hole. So, Don’t fret! Just wake up the Pete Townshend in you!