And here’s Moore guitar…

I have committed a grievous offense. A few days ago I posted a blog about some of the greatest guitarists I have come across but neglected to mention a legend, who after Peter Frampton, inspired me the most to start playing, err… air guitar.

I’m going to put that right now and I hope the atoms that once was Gary Moore will forgive my error of omission. Here’s a song which he co-wrote with Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy. There’s a point in the song where he appears to hold or sustain a note for around 26 seconds in some live versions and it has always fascinated me. Seems like a neat trick, but it’s explained quite simply here.

Incidentally, I would never have associated Parisienne Walkways with Figure Skating, but this bit of trivia might interest you. Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan broke his own world record at the 2014 Sochi Olympics skating to Parisienne Walkways, with a world record score of 101.45.

Note: The video above is from 2013, the Fukuoka, Japan, ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix Final, not the Sochi Olympics.

Freshly Played #5: Joe Bonamassa

India/Mountain Time

There are so many songs with great guitar riffs that I am partial to, but right now the one that’s playing in my head constantly is India/Mountain Time by Joe Bonamassa. I don’t know what it is about guitar riffs, but they cause my the fingers on one hand to involuntarily hold chords that are all wrong over an imaginary fret board, while the other strums on imaginary strings.

Air guitar is a phenomenon that affects many people the world over; I’m certainly not immune. But I tend to do it dead sober, even in public. I can’t help it, and here’s a reason why:

Hope that took you far away to another world. And don’t fight the impulse to straddle those imaginary strings; it’s quite okay to become afflicted too.