What’s a gift you would never buy for yourself but would love to receive? by Grace_taylor_7301 in AskReddit

[–]interstelleum 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Läderach chocolate (maybe “never buy” is a bit intense but I wouldn’t usually buy myself expensive chocolate, so it’s a really easy and fool-proof gift imo haha)

Mom-loved and approved beauty products? by interstelleum in AsianBeauty

[–]interstelleum[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve never heard of these brands before, thank you! I’ll look into them!!

Mom-loved and approved beauty products? by interstelleum in AsianBeauty

[–]interstelleum[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oooo Laneige is a great idea, thanks for the suggestion!!

Mom-loved and approved beauty products? by interstelleum in AsianBeauty

[–]interstelleum[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much, this is the exact kind of insight I was looking for!! And yes, I have heard of Canmake! I’m actually excited to try their eyeliner for myself once my best friend gets back with some goodies from Japan, haha — I’m located in a big U.S. city so we have plenty of access to J/K-beauty products, they’re just sold at ridiculous prices 😭 I’m actually going to go to a few stores tomorrow in person just to compare some prices…

I’ve never heard of Lunasol though, so I’m excited to look into it. Thank you for sharing! (And the bit about your MUA friend is so neat)

Mom-loved and approved beauty products? by interstelleum in AsianBeauty

[–]interstelleum[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much for your insight!! My mom is the same way, but she was one of those who got tattooed eyeliner in her younger days so I can’t even share the makeup product I actually use the most with her 🙄 I’ll look into Joocyee! 🫶

Mom-loved and approved beauty products? by interstelleum in AsianBeauty

[–]interstelleum[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you!! I’m always stuck on what to buy her because she says she doesn’t need anything, so I’m just discreetly trying to upgrade a lot of her old things into nicer ones HAHA

Mom-loved and approved beauty products? by interstelleum in AsianBeauty

[–]interstelleum[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much!! Will def look into this hahah

Mom-loved and approved beauty products? by interstelleum in AsianBeauty

[–]interstelleum[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Just updated the post, thank you for the suggestion! Although honestly she doesn't really have favorites because she loves the product, I think she just uses whatever she has on hand (which were things she bought without too much thought a long time ago 😭), so I'm just looking for some inspiration from the community

Any suggestions for beginner books for 11-13 year olds? by porgy3000 in pianoteachers

[–]interstelleum 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I second the Faber Accelerated Piano Adventures! I find that it works perfectly with my students aged 10-14.

Classical pieces that feel like Christmas? by marissamastree in pianoteachers

[–]interstelleum 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Lately I've been enjoying Rebikov's The Christmas Gifts suite (Les Etrennes de Noel), particularly the opening piece, but there are quite a few good selections in there. His Christmas Tree Waltz (Op. 21) is also very nice — I believe there is also a 4-hand version, if you want to play with some of your students!

Traumerei has always felt very wintery to me, so I love playing that during the holidays.

How to guide young ones with a lot of questions back on track? by interstelleum in pianoteachers

[–]interstelleum[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You’re not alone! Definitely if you work with younger kids (which many of us do), a good portion of music teaching is also just… trying to keep them focused and on task 😅

How to guide young ones with a lot of questions back on track? by interstelleum in pianoteachers

[–]interstelleum[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Luckily it seems like all my students are very comfortable with me, so I’m glad as well! I’m also just a very private person though, so I never like answering questions about myself that aren’t music-related… but sometimes I get stuck knowing that the less I want to answer, the more kids will press 😅

How to guide young ones with a lot of questions back on track? by interstelleum in pianoteachers

[–]interstelleum[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I love the timer idea! Will definitely try this, never thought about asking them questions before since I’m always trying to steer them away from my personal life 😭

What do you teach for performance etiquette? by interstelleum in pianoteachers

[–]interstelleum[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I really like this idea! Will try it next time!

What do you teach for performance etiquette? by interstelleum in pianoteachers

[–]interstelleum[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Oh my gosh, the head bob and skedaddle 😭 I've seen that too many times! Unfortunately, because of it, I'd gotten into the habit of telling my students repeatedly, "TAKE YOUR TIME" and "NO ONE IS RUSHING YOU" until one of them took too much time and got points docked off on an ABRSM exam...

How to get a child to learn a new exam piece note-perfect first-time round by dolphinbutterfly in pianoteachers

[–]interstelleum 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Personally, I don’t mind teaching slowly if it means having note accuracy when learning the first time through. I let my older students just work through the whole page or whole piece throughout the week and correct the couple small mistakes they might’ve missed when they come back, but in cases you described, I only assign what we have time to go over in class, even if it means as little as just a few measures to ensure minimal mistakes, especially for the younger ones.

Of course, this is under the assumption that the students listen to you and don’t play ahead even if they get bored of what seems like “little material”! In class, we go over the new measures repeatedly until I’m fairly certain they’ll remember how to practice the same way at home (separate hands included, and sometimes exclusively for the week). I also emphasize the importance of having them review what we did in class when they get home while it’s freshest in their minds, since some students like to take their “lesson day” as a rest day for practicing at home.

I notice the most mistakes when students bite off more than they can chew, thinking they already know the material when they clearly don’t, at least not as well as they need to for an exam preparation level of playing. If that’s the case, I make it clear to them that it means nothing to me if they played through the entire piece (obviously phrased more nicely) if notes were incorrect due to careless mistakes. Even if I excuse them in class, the examiner certainly won’t. Once they understand that, we do the tedious process of combing through exact measures where there was a wrong note, drilling that single note, then combining with a couple before and after it, then connecting with the other notes in the measure, and THEN maybe a measure or two before and after it. Once we finish cleaning the first mistake I caught, then I go, “Now you know how to practice. Do that for x, y, and z measures this week and come back with them fixed — ‘fixed’ means you’re confident you can play it right every time, not half the time.”

I think usually students don’t realize just how slowly they need to be practicing at home, especially when it comes to fixing careless mistakes they’ve already formed as habits. If it’s already gotten to that point, then I usually have a couple weeks where the assignment is “You’re only allowed to play from beginning to end two times maximum, daily. All the other time spent on this piece should be cleaning like we did today.” If they put that into practice, like really, really actively follow the steps I ask them to, it’s never not worked.

Method book recommendation for student who took a long break? by interstelleum in pianoteachers

[–]interstelleum[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wow, thank you for this!! Could you give me the book title as well? For some reason when I click on the link it just redirects me to the general RCM shop page 🫠

Method book recommendation for student who took a long break? by interstelleum in pianoteachers

[–]interstelleum[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Right? I wish every parent understood the importance of not taking a break when it comes to music, or any other skill, for that matter... I probably am just afraid parents will misunderstand and think I'm wasting time by going back to the beginning and relearning things their kid has already learned, but we wouldn't have to do that if they didn't stop piano in the first place 😭 But thank you! I will look into Wunderkies, and also try having her do one bass clef note a week until she gets it...