Take a bow Mrs Bickerstaff

WINIFRED Bickerstaff's approach to teaching the violin to children was unorthodox at times but if her students' comments are anything to go by, it worked.
Mrs Bickerstaff, of Napier, started teaching the violin in 1962. Last weekend her contribution to teaching was recognised when the Suzuki violin students organised a function to acknowledge her work and present her with a certificate for her long standing teaching exploits. It was all a surprise to Mrs Bickerstaff, she thought she was going to a violin concert and had even volunteered to take money at the door for the afternoon. But once the afternoon got under way it became apparent this was no ordinary concert. Former students and parents spoke about the impact their violin teacher had on their lives and their memories of learning with her.
Don Anderson spoke about learning alongside his daughter Gretchen and called Mrs Bickerstaff a 'remarkable woman'.
Three of his children learned violin with her and the inspirational teacher 'changed our lives'.
Former student Erica Stitchbury called her a patient teacher who was 'able to captivate me with the art of violin playing'.
For Mrs Bickerstaff, it all began when her friend Gladys Vincent was going on holiday and she asked the then inspector of music if her friend (Mrs Bickerstaff) could take over her students while she was away. The inspector agreed and before long Mrs Bickerstaff was teaching children the finer points of violin playing. Her teaching continued for 'many, many years'.
It was in the 1980s that she saw a television programme where a young child was playing a complicated piece of music, and had been trained using the Suzuki method. It was something Mrs Bickerstaff had not heard of, so she did some research.
Training for the programme took place in Australia and she went to Melbourne and Adelaide to learn the finer points of Dr Suzuki's teaching methods, even meeting the founder. More training in New Zealand followed.
She approached the Hawke's Bay inspector for music about teaching her students using this method and he was all for it.
So the first Suzuki class in Hawke's Bay began. Dr Suzuki's philosophy was that parents should learn alongside their children. So parents joined their children in the classes and learned all the finer points of violin playing. Students could be as young as 2 or 3 years old and were immersed in listening and playing music rather than learning to read it at that stage. Their exam pieces were taped when they were ready to move on to the next stage.
She remembers one day when one of her students said she was too tired to play. Mrs Bickerstaff's response was to tell the child she must have had a tiring day, 'let's all play the violin lying down'.
But she has a twinkle in her eye when she says that was a cunning teaching technique as lying on the floor gave children good practise in not bringing their bent elbow back too far behind their bodies.
She taught correct foot position by using cardboard cut outs of 'magic carpets' so children knew where their feet needed to be when playing.
The success of the programme became apparent when students from the Suzuki programme began winning competitions such as young musician of the year.
Word of her teaching skills even reached Taupo, with one family travelling to Napier with their three children each Saturday for lessons with Mrs Bickerstaff.
These days she suffers from arthritis and doesn't play or teach the violin. She does help some students practising for exams, they come and play to her and she offers advice where needed.
An accomplished player herself, she played in Dunedin before moving to Napier and joining the Napier Boys' High School orchestra which was conducted by Frank Bates. But she is content now with listening to the talents of others and keeping up with what her former students are doing in music circles.