Question or two

Hello all! My first time poking this forum

Allright, question #1 Finger practice, run scales up and down, or play something like this (clicky clicky), I can play half of this piece now, after 2 days of hard practice. Now, reason I ask this, I find it bit boring to run scales up and down especially if I already know the scale. (which are only few so far) I've noticed that playing this Tears in the rain, feels good practice for my stiff fingers.

And question #2 sheets... scary.. Okay, I seriously dont know how to read them yet. But but, is it really important to learn reading sheet music as soon as possible? Note that I wont be playing bach and stuff like that, mostly just my own music. So far I've been using guitar pro 5 to see how the songs are played, and learning them with that

I guess that's all for now, hopefully I get some enlightening replies

I dont know if you're asking for piano or guitarhelp, but music theory is pretty much universal stuff. ( we got a guitar part in this forum somewhere )

1. I only practice the scales a tiny bit, mostly just to make sure it's remembered. Scales are really neat if you're gonna improvise or compose music. And they are needed for sheets, a sheet tells you what scale to use. And the "Circle Of Fifth" tells you what the symbol on the sheet says. ( a "chart" of scales and "symbols" ).

2. If you're playing the guitar you dont need sheets, then you've got the tab, that's a guitar sheet.

The only tricky part about a guitartab is to learn what all this weird symbols means, like vibrato, hammer on, pull off, slide etc.

If you spend alot of time on scales you wont have time for learning songs/pieces, you'll only learn how to play the keys. I dont say scales is a bad thing, and some people will probably say it's wise to practice scales alot. There isnt really a "right" answer, you gotta feel for yourself what you wanna spend time doing. Aslong as you know the scale there is no reason to overpractice it.

*Bonks his own head*

I was at least supposed to mention that I play piano, or well.. synthesizer.. same stuff anyway!

And yeah, I know the difference between piano sheet and guitar tab. It's just that guitar pro actually shows them both, and also shows how to place your fingers on guitar, and what keys are used on piano. So perfect tool for me to learn to play some pieces, other than my own.

Big thanks for the answer! helped a bit at least

I guess it's time to watch Andrew's video about reading sheets, and take another 2 or 3 views at circle of fifth's. I got a bit different looking circle than what Andrew draws.. boy was that confusing!

Hi, a couple of suggestions. Think of practicing scales as a warm-up. Stretch your fingers before playing, then use the scales as a way to get your fingers going on the keyboard (or fretboard if you're playing guitar.) The better you know the scales, the easier it will be to use them to write songs or riff off solos.

As for reading, it will make writing music that much easier, and will allow you to branch out to different types of music. Many famous musicians - usually rock musicians - are great at 'hearing and playing', but along the way they regret not being able to read music, for then they're stuck playing "the same old stuff".

It's like being a writer--if you want to write better, read everything you can. If you want to be a better musician, learn everything you can about music... and practice, practice, practice.

Thankies for the tips Danderu!

I actually started using scales to get my fingers less stiff.
I made it a bit more challenging though, instead of doing it with one hand, I keep doing it with both hands at the same time, and noticed it's bloody awesome way to get my hands work together, and works for stiffness of my fingers aswell

Still need to work on reading sheets, I just simply cant get all those things in my head, or then it's just me trying to get too much information at once

i guess to much at once stick at it man staring out is the hardest part the further you go the easier it becomes . i find regular practice is best