A list of 57 great reasons to learn and play scales. 

57 Reasons to Learn and Play Scales

1 It is incredibly fun and enjoyable.

2 It increases your coordination.

3 It increases your focus and concentration.

4 It increases your ability to use both hands simultaneously.

5 It increases your understanding of music.

6 You could become a composer. Many of the great composers know a lot about scales and can play them rapidly. John Williams knows his scales quite well. Listen to Beethoven to hear some really great scale passages.

7 It's emotionally satisfying to be able to play the scales well. The scales are structured, orderly, and patterned which gives one a feeling of control over the elements.

8 It makes you special or unique when you can play scales, especially less-known scales like Lydian-Dominant or Super Locrian.

9 You could teach piano lessons some day and knowing your scales is crucial for a good piano teacher.

10 You can warm up a choir with scales. Many choirs warm up by singing scales. They need a pianist that can play the scales.

11 It increases your ability to study. It gives you better study habits.

12 It makes the muscles in your forearm stronger.

13 You can learn to improvise music with an understanding of scales.

14 It teaches you to do hard things. Learning many scales in all 12 keys is not easy. It takes months or years of practice to master all the scales.

15 Your friends will think you are awesome, especially if you can play exotic scales like the Octatonic Scale or the Phrygian #3 scale.

16 It increases right-left brain communication, especially when playing double-handed scales.

17 Scales give you a better understanding of keys with their associated key signatures and where the various sharps and flats are located.

18 You will begin to hear relationships between scale degrees. For instance, you can hear how scale degree 7 (the leading tone) leads to the key note (scale degree 1).

19 It increases your eye-hand coordination.

20 It helps you learn to stick to something until it's mastered.

21 It increases your ability to enjoy music. As you understand music, you enjoy it even more.

22 It increases your finger strength.

23 It keeps your mind sharp.

24 It increases your memorization skills. When passages are scalar, one need only memorize the scale and not individual notes.

25 Playing scales helps inspire creativity. When the sound of the scale is in your head, it helps you to use that scale in compositions.

26 It helps you become a life-long learner. There are dozens of scales. It's quite a challenge to distinguish between the Dorian #4 (4th mode of Harmonic Minor) and the Dorian b5 (2nd mode of Harmonic major).

27 It teaches you to multitask. You have to think of several things at once (often you'll play a thumb in one hand and a 2nd finger in the other hand at the same time. Or a 4 with a 2, etc.)

28 It increases your manual dexterity.

29 It makes you a classier person.

30 Playing and discussing scales makes you look smart (which you are if you play scales).

31 People admire people who can play scales, especially two handed and fast.

32 Music is full of scales. If you know the scales, these passages become easier to learn.

33 Improves your fingering. If you can play scales well, your ability to use good fingering will correspondingly improve.

34 Increases your aural (listening) abilities. You'll begin to differentiate between major and minor, minor and Dorian, minor and Phrygian, Major and Mixolydian, etc.

35 Increases your understanding of intervals between various scale degrees. For example, where the augmented 2nd occurs in Harmonic Minor and its modes.

36 With the increased understanding of key signatures and scales, your fingers will begin to know which notes should be sharped or flatted when playing music within a certain key.

37 Understanding scales helps one to understand chords. Skipping notes of the scale by thirds makes chords. For example, C Mixolydian is C-D-E-F-G-A-Bb-C. The C dominant chord is C-E-G-Bb (every other note of the scale).

38 A scale is to music as good grammar is to speaking well.

39 Scales set the mood for music.

40 Scales are to music as color is to a visual artist.

41 Scales are the musicians aural palette. Like a painter discovering new, exciting color blends, these scales can give the composer and/or improvisor many new tools and sounds for his/her compositions.

42 Scales are the ingredients for making certain sounds. For example, a minor scale sounds more mysterious, sad, or spooky.

43 You use scales to create melodies.

44 You strengthen all fingers equally through the practice of scales.

45 Gain control of all fingers through scale practice. Control is best achieved through slow careful practice, then gradually building speed into the scale. Then your playing of all repertoire will be more controlled.

46 Playing scales give you lots of practice crossing your thumb under or crossing various fingers over your thumb.

47 Playing scales gives one a knowledge of the sound of a piece via the key it is in. It helps you to play more accurately when playing music from the repertoire.

48 Scales are great warm ups for the fingers.

49 If you have learned to play the scale of a particular key, you'll already know where the sharps or flats are located within that key. For example, if you've played the F# Major scale, you can play a piece with 6 sharps much easier.

50 Playing scales increases your muscle memory. After playing a scale for some time, you'll be able to play it without really thinking about it. This increases your ability to play smoothly and effortlessly.

51 Playing scales will increase your sight reading ability as you will often come across scalar passages. When you come across passages with which you are familiar, it makes your sight reading that much easier.

52 Music theory is much easier to learn and understand if you know your scales.

53 You need to know your scales for entrance into many music programs and to pass many music exams.

54 Practicing scales will improve all areas of your playing. If you pay attention to the sound your fingers make, work on legato cross-overs or cross-unders, your overall playing ability will increase dramatically.

55 Playing scales will increase your ability to play staccato, legato, and/or slurred staccato if you practice your scales in these various styles of playing.

56 Playing scales will increase your ability to play fast passages with control.

57 Playing scales can enhance your knowledge of intervals. For instance, it is a perfect 5th from scale degree 1 to scale degree 5 in either Major or minor, etc. 

The Comprehensive Book of Modes and Scales

57 Reasons to Learn & Play Scales