Scales are great -- but before or above that, I would say ear train. It's a secret (literally -- shockingly few musicians know about it given how useful it is) weapon. It only takes 15 minutes a day for a few months to be able to hear a melody and know what's being played (at least in relative terms -- perfect pitch is harder but unnecessary). After that you can literally study by simply listening to music, which is both more rewarding and more enjoyable than practicing patterns.
(Okay, technically a song is a pattern. But it's a really nice one.)
Jeff_Brown|2 years ago
(Okay, technically a song is a pattern. But it's a really nice one.)
imperistan|2 years ago