Fingers fly up and down the fret board, producing fast, furious and beautiful sounds. Heads bang, fans cheer as the sounds of rock fill the area. The players pull together for the solo and the big finish, and salute the crowd of cheering fans when the song ends. The players take a look at the score and the winner respectfully shakes the other player’s hands as he advances to the next round of the tournament.

This will be the scene in the student center auditorium Jan. 27 from 5-9 p.m. when the Ashland University Guitar Club holds their first-ever Guitar Hero competition.

The Guitar Club will be holding the event to raise money to help pay for a guest musicians visit in the spring.

The cost to enter the competition is $3 and there will be prizes for the winners. The competition will be sponsored by Walmart and Strings By Mail. Students can sign up in Center for the Arts, the mailroom, Kilhefner or by contacting Adam Sarata, guitar instructor at Ashland University, at [email protected].

Sarata hopes to bring in a flamenco guitar group Feb. 5 with the proceeds from the competition.

“I’ve only played ‘Guitar Hero’ once,” Sarata said. “But I’ve heard that these types of fundraisers have been done in the past, and have been very successful.”

Sarata said that Teri Green was the student who came up with the idea for the competition during a Guitar Club meeting.

Sarata said that organizing the competition will give students organizational and fundraising experience.

The guest act next semester will be the second artist that Guitar Club has brought in to perform. Last year James Piorkowski, a professor of guitar, gave a lecture about classical guitar and performed his award-winning composures.

“We’re hoping to build the program,” Sarata said. “We want to continue the club and grow membership. Guitar is as popular as it gets; students can really get involved in guitar club and make an impact.”

Sarata said that the club started in the mid-nineties but became neglected and lost its charter in the early 2000s. Sarata was hired in 2007 and restarted the club in 2008.

The Guitar Club has grown and now has around twenty members at its biweekly meetings. Guitar Club meets Thursdays in CFA room 302, where members discuss anything guitar related or play guitar together.

“We are always looking for new members,” Sarata said. “We hope students show up and get involved with officer positions.”

Sarata said interested students should pay attention to Eagle Mail for updates on future meetings.

Interested students can find more information on the fliers on campus or by contacting Sarata. Walk-ins are also welcome at the competition.