I'm a chord tone follower, Dugal. I discoverd long ago that good, strong melody is predominantly chord tones ... like 90%, and I love good strong melody. I tend to look for chord tones and connect them where the melody demands by other scale notes (non chord tones) or semitones.
Scales ..? To my ear, scales are just that: scales. I switch off when I start hearing scale runs. I find that it ceases to be music.
But that's just me. I know there are many many players out there who love hearing scales played at blistering speed ... in which case: learn all the scales and modes you can find.
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