Repost: Tips to reduce wrong notes

Playing wrong notes is a very common phenomenon in piano learning, and most students often encounter this problem. Today, I have summarized 5 methods to help students avoid or reduce wrong notes.

1. Take sight-reading seriously: Some students are careless when sight-reading, hastily playing without properly reading the notes, and they don't bother to go back and carefully read the sheet music after playing, failing to correct the wrong notes, leading to more mistakes. The solution to this situation is to carefully and attentively read the sheet music, ensuring each note, rhythm, and expression is accurately played, until it becomes proficient.
   

2. Improve listening skills: While playing the piano, not only should the hands move and the eyes observe, but the ears should also listen. Some students often play wrong notes unintentionally without even noticing. At this point, they should cultivate their ear's ability to listen, learn to listen to their own playing, and distinguish whether the notes are correct, so that they can effectively correct wrong notes.
   

3. Don't rush the tempo: When playing a piece becomes somewhat proficient, some students rush to play faster and faster, resulting in wrong notes. This is a very undesirable phenomenon. It should be noted that playing fast does not necessarily mean playing well. Teacher Zhou Guangren once said to his students: "I can understand if you play ten times slower, but no mistakes are allowed!" This underscores the importance of practicing slowly. Students should learn to play slowly, ensuring correct fingerings and other techniques before gradually increasing the tempo. If one pursues speed blindly, making mistakes becomes inevitable.
   

4. Practice troublesome passages separately: Practicing from beginning to end repeatedly not only makes it easy to make mistakes but also wastes time. For passages that always have wrong notes, they can be practiced separately, correcting each mistake one by one. This is the most efficient way to complete practice in the shortest time.
   

5. Maintain focus: Elementary school students' concentration is not as high as adults', and it's easy to get distracted while practicing. Insufficient concentration often leads to playing wrong notes. It is recommended that students practice piano in a relatively quiet environment. If there are unfinished tasks, they should be completed first so that they can focus on playing the piano without distractions.

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