Handed Down - Nevada Arts Council

1996–1997
Scottish Bagpiping:
John Massie and Wes Hallam
In the hands of a master like John Massie of Las
Vegas, the Scottish highland pipes can make a spirit
soar, set feet to marching or dancing, lament the death of
a loved one, or celebrate the joy of a marriage. For John,
the technical execution of blowing and fingering is an
important but partial element in learning the notoriously
difficult pipes. The rest comes in understanding the
history and meaning of the tunes, and expressing them
deeply and individually. John’s apprentice Wes Hallam
puts it this way: “He can communicate the feelings out. If
he wants you to dance on the table he can communicate
that feeling, you’re dancing on the table. If he wants
The Las Vegas Pipe Band performing at the
Las Vegas Folklife Festival.
you to cry, you’ll cry, and if he wants you to believe that
this is the best tune that you’ve ever heard he can even
communicate that to you.”
John retired to Las Vegas recently from Los Angeles,
where he was the pipe major for the LA Police
Pipe Band. He has spent over 50 years learning and
perfecting the pipes, starting at age 12 when he began
a six-year apprenticeship in his native Scotland. At age
16 he passed the pipe-major’s exam at the College of
Piping in Glasgow, and he’s been a pipe major every
since. John is also a senior piping judge for solo and
band competitions, and a tough and thorough teacher.
“I believe in teaching to be complete,” he explains. “You
should never just be able to pick up an instrument or a
sheet of music and that’s as far as it goes. You should
know something of the history of the music, where it
came from, how to look after the pipe.” John had vowed
to retire from teaching when he came to Nevada, but on
his first visit with the struggling Las Vegas Pipe Band
he couldn’t help making a few suggestions, and after
that he couldn’t leave. “I could take that wee group out
Wes Hallam and
John Massie
in a parade tomorrow
and I would
not be ashamed
of them. “They’re
working hard,” he
says in his rolling
brogue. They
meet once a week,
first playing tunes together on practice
chanters so they can all play in unison
(“in a competition unit, the pipe major is
the law”) and then playing on the pipes
and practicing their marching.
John believes in training pipers for
competition as a way to force them to
improve, and he expected Wes to compete
in the novice category after they had
worked together for a year. They worked
on all the traditional types of pipe tunes, including jigs,
reels, strathspeys, hornpipes, waltzes, marches, airs and
special tunes for weddings and funerals. When discussing
his teaching style, John says, “I expect them
to work, and if they do work, they’ll win. And I’m not
nice when I demand something, believe me. I’ve calmed
down since I retired, but I used to fall into the category
of the Cursing Pipe Majors of Scotland. I know what
I want off of you and there’s nothing in between.” His
prize-winning students are proof that his style works.
“When you see these kids coming back with gold medals
and you listen to them play, you think, ah that’s the
way it should be. That brings it back, it’s not too bad, I
didn’t waste my time,” he concludes contentedly.
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