Merced firefighter learns the pipes for color guard

It’s a familiar sound during the solemn ceremonies to mark the loss of a police officer or firefighter – the mournful tones of the Scottish bagpipe.

For Merced fire engineer Joel Verrinder, it’s a sound that called to him.

Verrinder was with the Merced Fire Department for about three years when he received an email that piqued his interest: A battalion chief was looking for volunteers who might like to learn how to play the bagpipes.

Verrinder said many in his family are musically gifted, so he was around music a lot growing up.

“I always wanted to play an instrument, so this was my opportunity to try,” he said.

Quite a few people showed up to the first few lessons, Verrinder said, but, bit by bit, most lost their interest.

But not Verrinder. Now, some five years later, the 30-year-old Merced man is the pipesman who accompanies the department’s color and honor guard. The Merced Fire Department’s guard, which has eight active members, performs ceremonial details such as presenting flags at parades and American Legion events. But its most somber responsibility, perhaps, is to honor the dead, marking the passing of police officers and firefighters.

“It’s kind of an honor to have people ask me to play, especially for something like a funeral,” Verrinder said. “It’s sad, but it’s a special event. And I always enjoy playing ‘Amazing Grace’ because I have strong religious beliefs.”

The origin of the traditional playing of bagpipes at such events is unclear. Many police and fire departments across the United States have bagpipe brigades, the leaders of which say the instrument was imported from Irish immigrants who fled famine in their home country and took up the perilous work of security because it was one of the few professions they could claim. The Scottish bagpipe was embraced, they say, because of its greater resonance compared with the Irish instrument.

Verrinder, whose heritage is Portuguese, says the bagpipes may have a reputation for being difficult to learn but, for him, it came easier than others.

“The piano, violin, guitar – I think those are more difficult,” he said. “With it being the only instrument I know, I can’t say it’s the hardest.”

The initial lessons gave him a start. He kept at it, teaching himself by studying videos on YouTube. He’s learned to play the standards – “Amazing Grace,” taps and “Scotland the Brave.”

“Joel is definitely our go-to guy,” said Bryan Akers, program coordinator for the fire department’s color guard, which was started by his father, Mark Akers, shortly after 9/11. “Obviously, playing the bagpipes is one of the biggest traditions in the fire service. You don’t see too many ceremonies happen without the bagpipes playing somewhere.”

Verrinder plays with plastic pipes, which are more durable than the traditional wooden ones when it comes to weather. He said he had to learn how the instrument worked before he could learn to play any notes or songs. He used a practice chanter to learn the notes before transitioning to the full instrument.

The bagpipes has three drones, which make a constant noise; a chanter, which has a reed and holes used to play different notes; and the pipe, which serves as the mouthpiece and is used to fill the bag with air.

Because the bagpipes only have eight notes, there’s a limit of how many tunes it can play, Verrinder said.

Though most people enjoy the bagpipes, Verrinder joked that it made his children cry and his dog howl. “I think they’ll like it when they grow older,” he said.

This story was originally published January 15, 2016 at 7:10 PM with the headline "Merced firefighter learns the pipes for color guard."