Today, as I experimented with various finger formations for the So What intro, the importance of doing scales and arpeggios is really hitting home. My fingers are slow and clumsy. Practicing scales can make them nimbler.

Yet there is more to scales than just how to move your fingers gracefully up and down the keyboard. From scales you build chords and melodies. They seem completely foundational in music theory and in practical application of playing the keys. So far, I've avoided them because they were in violation of an early rule I established, that is to avoid non-musical practice. And for someone as myself with tendinitis, practicing scales look painful!

I'm wondering if I should study proper fingering and the theory of scales before proceeding with So What. Then I can make educated decisions on how to move these cumbersome hands of mine.