Robert
June 6th, 2009, 05:28 PM
TORONTO -- The sound of hundreds of guitars strumming Neil Young's "Helpless" in unison rang out through the heart of Canada's largest city Saturday, as musicians attempted to break the world record for largest guitar ensemble.
In the end, "The Great Canadian Tune" performance at Yonge and Dundas square fell about 200 players short of the previous Guinness World Record, held by a town in Germany that saw 1,802 guitarists take part in a performance of Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water" in 2007. Guinness officials were on hand to verify the results, but had to break the news to the crowd that the final count was 1,623.
The chance to bond with fellow guitar enthusiasts seemed as much of an attraction as the record itself. "We thought it sounded like a lot of fun," said Jennifer Bryan, who was there with a group of girlfriends.
"And it was a song we could actually play, which was good. We didn't know it only had three chords so that was a nice surprise."
In the end, "The Great Canadian Tune" performance at Yonge and Dundas square fell about 200 players short of the previous Guinness World Record, held by a town in Germany that saw 1,802 guitarists take part in a performance of Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water" in 2007. Guinness officials were on hand to verify the results, but had to break the news to the crowd that the final count was 1,623.
The chance to bond with fellow guitar enthusiasts seemed as much of an attraction as the record itself. "We thought it sounded like a lot of fun," said Jennifer Bryan, who was there with a group of girlfriends.
"And it was a song we could actually play, which was good. We didn't know it only had three chords so that was a nice surprise."