How many of us have stood in front of a mirror, pretending we are Jimi, or Keith, or Slash, or Jimmy. And how many of us still do it, playing air guitar when we hear those screaming strings rising above the rhythm section?
We have all seen them at live concerts, faced contorted, hands cramped in the air, fingers touching invisible strings.
Air guitar, says Wikipedia, is ‘a form of dance and movement in which the performer pretends to play an imaginary rock or heavy metal style electric guitar, including riffs and solos. What makes a great air guitarist? Are there competitions? There are compilations with dozens of perfect songs to play air guitar to. Famous ones include ‘Layla’ by Derek and the Dominos, ‘Free Bird’ by Lynyrd Skynyrd and ‘Paradise City’ by Guns ‘N Roses.
In this episode, journalists and music writers Fred de Vries and Tim Cohen
try to answer some of the questions raised above. They also confess to being amateur air guitarists, and introduce you to six of their favourite air guitar songs, with, as usual, some twists.
The featured songs are ‘I’m Going Home’ – Ten Years After; ‘Voodoo Chile’ – Stevie Ray Vaughan; ‘Bohemian Like You’ – Dandy Warhols; ‘The End’ – The Beatles; 'Painkiller' - Judas Priest; ‘Sultans Of Swing’ – Dire Straits. Song suggestions, comments, episode suggestions to [email protected]
