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Playing scales is like brushing your teeth. You may not be ecstatic doing it, but you have to do it. You'd rather play pieces with great appealing melodies. Scales? Ho hum! But scales are very important. Below are the reasons why.

Here are several reasons why scales are a must for the classical guitarist of all levels:

Scales are important:

- as a tool to improving physical dexterity and responsiveness. In practicing scales you must execute many of the physical movements required in playing music. Playing scales allows you to focus on this aspect, independent of a single piece of music. The benefits gained can then be applied to all the music you play.

- as a tool to improving sight reading ability. Melodies move stepwise, skipwise, or both. When you know the key and the associated scales you are able to recognize larger chunks of music. The ability to recognize and execute pieces of the music larger than the individual notes is an important sight reading skill.

- as a tool to improved understanding of music. Scales play a very important role in music. Understanding scales and how they relate to music is important learning to make music. A thorough understanding of scales is fundamental to improving improvisational skills. You know, we've gotten kinda stodgy with classical music during these modern times. Improvisation played an important role in much of the music we strive to play note per note.

(Acknowledgement: Classical Guitar FAQ)

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