not necessarily. but I would definitly recommend learning scales as they help to increase your familiarity with the instrument and help you in knowing what to play when soloing. they are also good to use as speed building exercises. the first scales Id recommend learning are pentatonic, blues, and natural minor. if you want to learn more, try getting familiar with the modes (ionian, dorian, phrygian, lydian, mixolydian, aeolian, lochrian) http://www.wholenote.com - all that stuff can be found here ...that is, assuming you were talking about guitar... lol if not, Im sure at least some of that applies to your instrument
it all depends on your style. if all you want to make is instrumental guitar music, then yes, i'd imagine so.
its not like instrumental music is the only circumstance in which picking is put to use. just because a song has vocals in it doesnt mean it cant include lead riffs and solos... lol but yes... if you were to play instrumental songs then you would most definitly need to learn scales (at least Id assume so...)
Absolutely. Improvisation is all about scales and arpeggios. Only when you've got basic technique completely under your fingers so that it comes naturally without too much thought, are you truly free to use your mind and concentration purely for creativity. Also scales form the basics of most of the patterns you'll find in written music as well, and once you've got them mastered you'll be able to read music as patterns instead of individual notes which will vastly improve your reading. And of course if you have a full knowledge of how all scales and arpeggios work then your underlying knowledge of music theory will also make you a very able composer. There's no short cut to being a great musician, you've just got to practise. You can disguise what you do by varying what you practise, and make it seeem like you're doing a vareity of different things but ultimately it's all going to come down to scales, and when you're a great musician, by whateve route you've achieved it, you WILL be able to play your scales.
yuck! scales are meh. but they are good at getting your fingers completely around teh notes, helps with fingering and stoof....depends what instrument you're playing of course, but they do help.
I've never really had a use for learning scales without just learning them from playing... The key to being a great musician is what you do and how you do it.
nowhere in my post did I say anything about limiting the amount of music one can play, nor did I initiate the discussion of instrumental music in the first place. see soulrebel51's post
scales are a wonderful thing to know, it helps you become a better musician, and you can relate to fellow musicians alot easier when writing songs or improvising in jams.
I think George has got it more right...It's more about using your ears. There's no formula to good music. Just gotta use your ears. Sometimes nothing works better than the wrong note.
