Hi! I'm a 1.5 out of 10 on my guitar skills. I understand chords and keys and all of that. I think my question is not properly worded.
As a relative newbie, why do i want to go through scales? these are part of the early lessons. when i was learning piano, i had the same problem. I think knowing some context would help. The issue is that lessons just start doing this stuff, and I just don't know the intent.
I don't want to brush off something important. Any details to fill in would be helpful.
Thanks to William for the great reply!
Scales are important for 2 general reasons.
1. Conceptually, they are the basic building blocks of music, the raw materials of melodies & chords.
2. Physically, it is a valuable skill to be able to isolate one note at a time. It is a skill that requires lots of practice & the sooner you start working on it, the better.
There are many applications: playing single note lines (not just soloing but melodies), isolating individual notes in chords for arpeggiation, for ornamentation of chords, for walking in & out of chords by isolating alternating bass lines, for understanding how chords are built from scales to illuminate your understanding of what you are playing.
It will help you understand that the most important component of music is melody & how any series of notes that form virtually unlimited numbers of melodies can be grasped as ways of manipulating & using scales.
Hope that helps!
It can vastly improve your aural skills (ear training), which is your ability to hear a piece of music & know how to play it.
