Air Guitar
by John Riggio
Something we've seen most boys (and occasionally, girls) do is play the air guitar. They hear a song they like, and their hands rise up to embrace the invisible, yet familiar instrument. All they need is a little imagination, and they're virtuosos.
Air Guitar is a lively rock piece that may encourage those students who are less enthusiastic about music than most are to participate - and have a good time doing it!
The lyrics speak of the joys of the instrument: portability, ease of use, great sound, etc., which brings us to an important point. While we do provide a guitar/bass/vocal score in this issue, this song is clearly not intended for piano accompaniment. We highly recommend using the P/A CD or cassette that corresponds to this issue. It features a great rhythm section, some cool synthesizer parts, and most important, some fantastic guitar playing!
The song is easy and repetitious, so students shouldn't be too challenged by it. You may want to let your students air jam throughout the piece, but be aware that there is a special air jamming section at bar 38 that is 16 bars long. No vocals here - just a screaming metal solo for your jammers to play along with.
You may certainly add choreography (avoid stages dives) so as to achieve more order than chaos during performances. Ever see a couple of guitarists and a bass player move their guitar necks up and down simultaneously on stage? It looks kinda cool. Feel free to let your kids come up with their own stage moves.
Please note that the divisi on the chorus is optional, and that either part sounds fine alone. We will say, however, that while recording this, the kids who sang really enjoyed the sound of the divisi and your students may like it as well.
Kudos to Sandy Williams who brought our air guitar to life. He also plays a mean air banjo...
Text is taken from Music K-8 magazine.