Notes are important!

But they’re not the only thing in music.

If you play notes without rhythm, technique, articulation, space, dynamics, tone, listening, feel & emotion, and phrasing then it’s not going to sound good.

Notes are the same throughout many styles of music.  There are a few more in Indian music.  But basically there are just 12.

So all the other elements make a musician sound distinct and give him or her style.

We often worry about notes more than anything else though!

In reality, it matters more if the music feels good than if you play the ‘right’ note.  And the note is only wrong if it disrupts the flow and messes up your playing.  If you use a ‘wrong’ note as a passing tone, it sounds good and gives some color to what you play.