Evening Classes

This is a guide to the standards of each of our levels in the evening classes.

Beginner: Complete beginner, never played before

Level 1: Not a beginner, can play scales, g gracenotes, strikes and simple melodies and can read music. (Currently working on Chapters 7 – 9 of The Highland Bagpipe Tutor Book)

Level 2: Able to play D Throws, High A and High G Doublings, G,D,E’s (Currently working on Chapters 10 – 13 of The Highland Bagpipe Tutor Book)

Level 3: Able to play most movements including all doublings, G strikes, grips. Is just about to go onto the pipes (currently working on Chapters 14 – 20 of The Highland Bagpipe Tutor Book).

Level 4+: Able to play all movements including birls, taorluath, B strikes and beyond. Can play several tunes with reasonable sense of timing on the pipes (currently working on Chapters 21 – 27 of The Highland Bagpipe Tutor Book).

For further information about our evening classes or for more guidance on the levels, please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or phone 0141 353 0220.

Willie Beveridge

Willie has been teaching at the National Piping Centre’s Evening Classes for a number of years and has become one of the most popular instructors because of his wealth of knowledge and entertaining approach. Previously, Willie has been a bagpipe instructor for the Royal Scots Regiment in the 1st Batt and has a huge amount of solo competition experience gaining a number of top awards as a member of the Competing Pipers Association.

One of Willie Highlights in his player career is having the honour of playing for the first President of Zambia, Kenneth Kaunda. Willie teaches at the City Centre - McPhater Street Venue

Stuart MacKenzie

Stuart began learning the pipes in the early 1960s and was tutored then by the highly respected teacher, Tommy Pierson, of the College of Piping in Glasgow.

He joined the Clan MacRae Society Pipe Band at age 17, later moving to another Grade 1 Band, British Caledonian Renfrew, in 1970/71. He rose through the ranks with B Cal, as they came to be known, finally becoming Pipe Major of the Band’s successors, Babcock Renfrew, another well-known Grade 1 Band.

All three bands were successful in their own right, each winning competitions at local and Championship level on a regular basis.

Stuart has been teaching the pipes for many years now and is currently Pipe Major of The Royal Burgh of Renfrew Pipe Band. Stuart teaches at the City Centre- McPhater Street Venue

Daniel McDermott

Daniel is a recent graduate of the BMus (Hons) Traditional Music – Piping degree at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

He hails from Rothesay on the Isle of Bute and began his tuition with Iain MacDonald and has most recently received tuition from Willie McCallum on the RCS degree. He has been a member of the Inveraray and District Pipe Band since the Autumn of 2009, playing with the Juvenile band in 2010 and 2011 before progressing into the current Grade 1 band and playing in his first Grade 1 major championship at fifteen years old. He rates the bands pre-worlds ‘Ascension’ concert and the bands first World Pipe Band Championship win in 2017 as the most notable experiences to date.

Daniel had been a member of the National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland from 2008 until February 2018 and served as Pipe Sergeant for nearly three years before becoming Pipe Major of the Senior Band for his last year. He appears on the bands ‘Illumination’ and ‘Thunderstruck’ albums and has been fortunate enough to have travelled with the band and has performed

throughout the country and abroad. Daniel actively competes as a solo player around the games circuit and had a very successful Junior career before progressing through to the adults and gaining promotion to B Grade light music for 2017.

He is currently a Piping Instructor at George Heriot’s School in Edinburgh. Daniel teaches at the City Centre - McPhater Street Venue

Danny Hutcheson

Danny Hutcheson is a traditional musician from Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire but lives in Glasgow while he studies music at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Currently, Danny is a piper with Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band and has played with them for the last three years. One of his highlights to date is playing at the pre-worlds concert in 2017, which was recorded for CD release.

Danny is also the Pipe Sergeant of the National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland. The band released its latest album

‘Thunderstruck’ in December 2017 and made history as the first ever pipe band to record Gordon Duncan’s famous arrangement of the tune. In February 2019 the band performed in the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall as part of Celtic Connections.

As well as this, Danny is also a piper in Drums n Roses and is preparing for a busy 2019 with the band.

If that wasn’t enough, Danny is in high demand as a piping instructor; he travels to Germany many times a year to help the City of Bremen Crest of Gordon Pipe Band. He also teaches at the National Piping Centre evening school as well as having his own private students that range from the USA to Israel and many countries in-between.Danny teaches at the City Centre - McPhater Street Venue

John Dew

John Dew is from Crieff and learned his piping at school from Anne Spalding beginning at age 10. In secondary school he was taught by Cameron Drummond and later by Craig Muirhead. During this time he began composing pipe and whistle tunes and has since broadened his scope considerably, creating suites and arranging material for folk and classical ensembles – and film scores.

As a competing piper he has won both Scottish schools senior Ceol Beag and Ceol Mor championships as well as some junior success. He was runner-up in the MacGregor Memorial piobaireachd event at Oban in 2015 and third in the same contest in 2016. He was a Pipe Idol finalist during Piping Live! in Glasgow in 2017. He continues to ascend the ranks as a competitive piper and clearly has a bright future ahead of him. In His adult career he won the Professional Scottish Pipers' Association Strathspey and Reel Contest as well as coming third in the March and Ceol Mor. His most notable success was winning the overall at Lochearnhead Highland Games and Overall B grade winner at the Captain John Memorial Competition 2017.

In 2014 John joined Inveraray and District Pipe Band under P/M Stuart Liddell and has been with the band during their recent championship runs. This included winning the World Pipe Band Championships in 2017 and three successive Champion of Champion titles. At the time of this writing, John lives in Glasgow and is working toward a B.Mus in traditional music at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where he is being taught by Willie McCallum and Finlay MacDonald. John teaches at the City Centre - McPhater Street Venue

Jonathan Lamberton

Jonathan has been part of the Otago Street teaching team since 2013. He has had experience teaching from a young age, as he was encouraged to mentor and teach other young players in his band, and they were very keen to help each other progress. He has found from a young age that by teaching others, it can also improve your own piping.

He started piping in 2000 at 10 year old with Monkstown Mossley Pipe Band. In 2004, aged 13, he joined Ballycoan Pipe Band where he played for 4 years. He then joined Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band in 2008, since which time he has won all the RSPBA championships including 6 World Pipe Band Championships and 2 Grand Slams to date.

He also competes in the solo scene, mainly back in Northern Ireland where I progressed to the senior grade. He also competes in Scotland winning up prizes in the c/b and open grade competitions. Jonathan teaches at the West End - Otago Street Venue

Donald Lindsay

Donald Lindsay teaches the Bellows Piping Evening Class which runs on Tuesdays. Donald WG Lindsay is a Scottish musician and singer, and musical instrument designer/inventor.

His first instrument is now one of his own design, the Lindsay System Scottish Smallpipes, an instrument which offers a range more than double that of the traditional Scottish Smallpipes while still maintaining the traditional fingering techniques and preserving (and extending) the characteristic voice of the Scottish Smallpipes. Donald also plays the whistle & low whistle, both now of his own "Qwistle" design.

Having spent the period 2010-2016 developing his instruments, Donald returned to live performance during 2016, appearing on STVs The Riverside Show with Alasdair Roberts, and taking part in Shane Connolly's show "From Taiko to Txalaparta" as part of Celtic Connections 2017. During 2018 he developed the show “Standard Habbie”, with piper Fin Moore, singers Alasdair Roberts, Iona Fyfe, and Neil Sutcliffe, violinist Roo Geddes, and saxophonist Konrad Wiszniewski. “Standard Habbie” explores the myth and music of Habbie Simpson, the famous and lamented Piper of Kilbarchan, and formed part of the programme of Glasgow’s Piping Live festival in August 2018. Further performances planned for 2019.

Donald is Scottish Smallpipes tutor at The National Piping Centre in Otago Street, Glasgow (formerly The College of Piping), along with Malin Lewis. He is currently convener of the Lowland & Border Pipers Society, and founder & memberof The Glasgow Smallpipers. Donald teaches at the West End - Otago Street Venue for the Bellows Piping classes