Oulu is already preparing for its 11th annual ‘Air Guitar World Championships’ the finale of its  Music Video Festival. This year’s final will take place slightly later than usual, on 8th September, at the Club Theatre (the largest rock venue in Finland, according to the organisers). Last year, well over two thousand revellers packed the venue to watch the championships, the motto of which is ‘wars would end and all bad things would go away if everyone just played air guitar.’

The international Air Guitar Championships were established in Oulu in 1996. The participants mime guitar playing – including head-banging and appropriate facial expressions – to various examples of heavy metal music. Participants pride themselves on their ability to respond to the music played and imitate the style of the original player of the tune. As such, some commentators have defined ‘Air Guitar Playing’ not just as mime but as a serious form of dramatic dance. Participants can select their own song for the opening rounds but all of the finalists must play the same song.  
    
Since its inception, the championships have attracted participants from all around the world. Last year’s finals included air guitarists from New Zealand, Japan, Australia, the USA, Finland, Germany and even the United Arab Emirates. The eventual winner was Michael ‘The Destroyer’ Heffels of the Netherlands. The winner’s reward varies slightly each year but this year it will be an electric guitar and special amplifier donated by Brian May. Brian May, the former Queen guitarist, composed Bohemian Rhapsody, a favourite tune amongst the world’s air guitar enthusiasts.

Promoting World Peace
But there is a serious side to the contest. It was established, according to its organisers, to promote ‘world peace’ and each year the song ‘Rocking in the Free World’ plays an important part in the events. ‘This is why the whole world is invited to play air guitar’ at the end of the competition, when this song – and accompanying air guitar images – ‘is streamed live over the internet,’ say the organisers. They also claim that ‘anybody can be a rock star’ as long as they just ‘play air guitar.’ They also emphasise that a founding principle of the championships is that all people are equal ‘regardless of race, gender, age, social status or sexual orientation.’

The competition organisers have laid down a strict set of rules including that the air guitar must not be real ‘i.e air’ and that you cannot be part of a duo whether this duo is human or made of air. Over the period of the competition, there is also an intensive high altitude Air Guitar Training Camp near Oulu. This lasts for three days and costs 85 Euros, in addition to the 20 Euro cost of taking part in the competition itself. The camp involves ‘lectures’ on such issues as the history of air guitar, the sport of air guitar, dance and, most importantly, endurance training for those arduous air guitar championships.   

A PhD in Air Guitar
The phenomenon has already attracted academic scrutiny. The judges last year included not only rock stars and music experts but also Amanda Griffiths, now 33, a dance teacher from North Wales who is researching for a doctorate on air guitar playing at Salford University in North West England. Her supervisor, Prof. Sheila Whiteley (Britain’s first ever ‘Professor of Pop Music’) is also supervising a PhD on ‘moshing’ (head-banging). According to the British newspaper the Daily Telegraph, Miss Griffiths took part in a British air guitar playing festival when she was 30 and has been fascinated ever since. Her thesis will look at why women are less attracted to air guitar playing than men and will draw upon such thinkers as Michel Foucault and Roland Barthes. Miss Griffiths managed to persuade the British Academy to fund this project to the tune of £10,000 (14000 Euros). The PhD topic has been greeted with a mixture of derision and amazement by numerous writers around the world from journalists to bloggers.
 
Air Guitar Technology
Finnish academics have also got the air guitar bug. According to the magazine The New Scientist, researchers at Helsinki University of Technology have developed equipment which means that – as the Air Guitar Championships wish – everybody can be a guitarist if they want to. Using a computer that monitors the hand movements of the air guitarist, the system adds ‘riffs and licks to match mid-air finger work’. By responding immediately to a wide variety of gestures, it is able to turn even the least musically talented air guitarist into a virtual Brian May. Aki Kanerva, Juha Laitinen and Teemu Mäki-Patola came up with the idea after being invited to develop a virtual instrument as part of their coursework. The resulting system consists of a video camera and a computer connected to a loud set of speakers. As a follow up, the researchers intend to develop a system which will be compatible with a webcam, allowing air guitarists to create their own music in the privacy of their own homes.

But, in many ways, this newer innovation moves away from one of the guiding principles of Oulu’s Air Guitar Championships – ‘what was previously a hobby to be pursued at home alone in front of the mirror or behind closed bedroom doors, is now a public stage show in front of thousands of people.’ And thousands of people, as with previous years, are exactly what the organisers are hoping for. Every year, say the organisers, 15000 people are attracted to Oulu by the championships with a crowd of 2500 at the final.

The organisers modestly refer to it as ‘one of the most acknowledged Finnish events on the globe.’ It has been reported on from China to the USA and has a list of sponsors including SubTV, Kaleva and Oulu Polytechnic. The qualifying rounds of the competition will be on the 6th and 7th September at Oulu’s 45 Special Rock Club. Those wishing to take part have until 25th August to apply.