By Megan Doyle ’18

Three to four hours every day, by himself, Will Fabian ’17 plays his mandolin by himself for three to four hours every single day.

A mandolin is a wooden string instrument in between a ukulele and a guitar. Although it’s

been around since the 17th and 18th centuries, most students wouldn’t be able to tell what it is. Fabian, however, has grown to love it.

“I think [I love it] because even though the mandolin is a relatively old instrument, it was never developed as much as the guitar and right now, people are doing a lot of new things on it,” Fabian said.

His process of obtaining a mandolin, although unconventional, turned out to be an extremely beneficial accident.

“I’ve played string instruments for a long time and two or three years ago my aunt got me a beginner mandolin as a present thinking it was a ukulele,” Fabian said.

Immediately, Fabian became interested in the mandolin and began to teach himself how to play. Since he knew how to play the guitar and ukulele, he already understood the basics.

“I taught myself for around a year on Youtube and then got a teacher who plays guitar to learn music theory and improvisation,” Fabian said.

Recently, Fabian created his own band with his friend, Sean Porio ’17, and together they will be playing at Toquet Hall on April 7.

In addition to Porio, Fabian has also played with his friend Evan Feder ’17 since seventh grade, who gushed about his devout yet humorous attitude.

“Of course I enjoy playing with him,” Feder said. “Bands often have arguments on what to play, and Will and I often took the same side.”

Together, they have played a wide range of music, including traditional rock, jazz, classic metal and bluegrass to compliment the mandolin.

But Fabian’s interest in music isn’t the only thing that sparks his friendships. Humorous, loyal, devoted and introspective are some of the words people have used to describe him.

“He’s always there to talk to and fun to be around,” Malini Wimmer ’18 said. “It’s never work talking to him.”