Most students probably don’t have a lot of experience playing the guitar, and might not see why some people take a huge interest in the instrument. Chris Rohner is a student who has years of experience playing the guitar and doing different shows all across Chicago. Rohner is a member of the School of Rock and plays with other musicians within a group. Chris creates his own music, which you will be able to find on his soundcloud. https://soundcloud.com/chrisrohner

1. Why did you start to play the guitar?

I started playing because I hated piano. Reading music wasn’t the best and with guitar you don’t have to read music.

2. What got you interested in music?

I have always grown up around music. My dad always had music on so it was always there so it was really normal to me.

3. What musicians do you look up to?

I am a live Jam Band kind of guy so I like music where they will play a song and then kind of like jam out of it for ten minutes, so most of the music I listen to is over 10 minutes long. I like listening to Jerry Garcia from Grateful Dead, and a lot of classic rock.

4. Where have you performed?

I perform all around Chicago through the School of Rock where I play in a band with other people. We do different shows around Chicago like recently I did a Pink Floyd, and White Stripes concert.

5. How did you learn to play the guitar?

A lot of it in the beginning was self-taught but when I started to learn more and more I started to take lessons every week.

6. What advice would you give someone starting to play guitar?

Don’t stop, it’s really fun. Guitar is one of those things where you might feel like you want to stop but you never should because it will be worth it in the end.

7. What genre of music do you play?

I usually play rock, but I also play some really cool jazz-fusion stuff that is like rock and jazz put together and it’s really cool.

8. Do you create any of your own music?

Yes I have created originals. I work on songs with one of my very talented friends who is a bass player.