Library hosts event offering a lesson in Scottish culture, bagpipe performance

Nearly every child in the room raised their hand when asked if they knew what a bagpipe was, but all of them put their hands right back down when the follow-up question was whether they knew how the instrument worked.

Dressed in a traditional kilt, John McClean Allan gave more than two dozen kids a crash course in Scottish culture at the La Crescenta Library on Wednesday.

Allan, a native of Kirkintilloch, Scotland, moved to the Southland more than 20 years ago and has since been teaching music lessons, including how to play the bagpipe, to children and adults.

PHOTOS: La Crescenta Library hosts Scottish bagpipe player performance

After blowing a few tunes on his highland bagpipe, Allan removed the chanter, which is part of the bagpipe. The chanter has several holes in it that the player covers with their fingers — similar to a recorder — and that bellows out the melody.

It can be played on its own, but the music stops when the player stops to take a breath.

The story of how the bagpipe came to be remains a mystery, but Allan said there’s a practical reason behind it.

“Someone came up with the idea of attaching a bag onto [the chanter] so when you took a breath [and squeezed the bag], the music didn’t stop,” he said.

There are several ways an audience can participate in bagpipe playing, and Allan demonstrated how by encouraging kids to clap along with the beat as well as stomping their feet.

Combining both movements, Allan taught those in attendance how to do a jig and a reel — two of the most common forms of traditional Scottish dance.

Although a bagpipe might not be a typical instrument a youngster might learn how to play, there are important lessons they can learn from it, Allan said.

“Definitely, discipline,” he said. “Learning what practice means, the discipline of practice and getting involved in the music world.”

La Crescenta resident Teresa Magula brought her young son and daughter to the afternoon program and said they enjoyed the show.

“There was lots of a new information, the kids were fascinated by it,” she said.

Magula added it’s important to expose her children to different cultures because there isn’t much diversity where she lives.

Allan’s performance is part of a new children’s series at the library that will be held on the third Wednesday of every month.