Tune up that air guitar: Progressive rock style

Jazz fusion guitarists might be known more for their speed, squeezing as many notes as possible into every measure.  While that can be an amazing feat (especially for those air guitarists among us), there's also something to be said for putting more feeling, touch and tone into the music as well.

You can find that in plentiful supply among some of the great progressive rock guitarists.  And then there's John Petrucci from Dream Theater, who fits right in with the fans of speedy guitar playing, just to balance things out.

There are plenty of progressive rock guitarists who've provided many great moments for air players to try and imitate ... Martin Barre from Jethro Tull, Steve Rothery from Marillion, Andy Latimer from Camel, the greatness of Frank Zappa, many's the time I've dug into Gary Green's solo from the Gentle Giant tune "Peel The Paint," the technical brilliance of King Crimson's Robert Fripp, Pink Floyd legend David Gilmour, Genesis' ace Steve Hackett, and Yes' Steve Howe.

Sure, there are more fine prog guitarists to daydream about what it would be like to play like them, but this at least gives us a nice start.

Prog on!

Tune up that air guitar: Jazz fusion style

Fusion is just what it says it is: fusing a bit of jazz music together with a bit of rock.  There's a lot of blending going on in the genre, with a lot of Latin sounds thrown in as well.

There's also a lot of shredding going on, especially when it comes to guitar playing.

It's an air guitarist's dream.

Many's been the time I've listened to Allan Holdsworth do his share of shredding and "pulled out" my air guitar to shred along with him.  I know actual musicians who've done the same, with air guitar.  It helps to know that Holdsworth is one of Eddie Van Halen's guitar heroes as well.

John McLaughlin, Al DiMeola, Steve Morse with the Dixie Dregs or on his own, Tony Macalpine, Bill Connors ... yeah, they all make me want to do some shredding of my own.

In the air.

Tune up that air guitar: Classic rock style

The theme came to me as soon as I turned on the car this afternoon and switched over to a classic rock FM station.

Boston's "Foreplay/Long Time" was playing, and like so many times before I was taken back in time to my teens when I'd "strap on" that air guitar and just start wailing away.

Come on, lots of us have done it at one time or another in our music listening lives.  Isn't that pretty much what "Guitar Hero" is all about?  And there's a national pizza chain store that has people standing on a sidewalk, dancing away and playing their best air guitar tunes while holding a big cardboard sign in the shape of a very large Fender, or something like it.

Just imagine, making a little dough (the green paper currency kind, not the pizza kind) while putting in some ear buds hooked up to a portable tune player, getting in the mood, stepping away from the safety of that private room where no one else can see you, and playing just like Townshend or Van Halen themselves for the whole world to observe.

Don't be ashamed.  Playing air guitar pretty much means that when it comes to being a hard-core music fan, you're basically ... normal.