"Don’t correct mistakes, instead find the source of the error."
I came across this quoted quote of a quote on another piano teacher's blog this evening. It was exactly what I experienced with one student this afternoon. She knew her piece well, except for one particular measure with a broken inverted G chord. She understood the notes, knew what she was supposed to do, but hit it wrong every time. We took a look at the fingering, and decided using her third finger on the starting note instead of the second made more sense. We switched the fingering, and it was perfect! Every time! Yay!
The article I read today continued on saying that fingering was one of the biggest reasons the notes are played incorrectly. She also mentioned not noticing dynamic markings and articulations, or simply not knowing how they should sound when correctly expressed. I also tried this afternoon to go over a section of my student's song with a piano and forte section. We played it until she could make the contrast she heard me play.
I love this quote and this way of thinking. I often ask myself, Why is this student making this mistake? It pays to find out!
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