I posted this in another thread before, but it bears repeating. This is what Segovia had to say about scales:
Quote:
The student who wishes to acquire a firm technique on the guitar should not neglect the patient study of scales. If he practices them 2 hours a day, he will correct faulty hand positions, graduallly increase the strength of the fingers, and prepare the joints for later speed studies. Thanks to the independence and elasticity which the fingers develop through the study of scales, the student will soon acquire a quality which is very difficult to gain latter: physical beauty of sound. I say physical, because sonority and its infinite shadings are not the result of stubborn will power but spring from the innate excellence of the spirit.
In order to derive the greatest possible benefit from scale exercises, play them slowly and vigorously at first, more lightly and rapidly later. Many hours of arduous and frequently futile exercises can be condensed into one hour of scales. The practice of scales enables one to solve a greater number of technical problems in a shorter time than the study of any other exercise.
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