Another piano player here.
My take is that you don't need scales to enjoy music. But you will also never be at the level of the greats.
My take is that you don't need scales to enjoy music. But you will also never be at the level of the greats.
I don't want to be a great pianist, I just want to be decent at expressing myself in musical form. For awhile, I thought this meant scales weren't really for me.
It turns out that, on the contrary, they are ideal for me because they quickly get me up to speed on what tends to sound good.
Ultimately, you're right, but scales may be worth a glance even if you're somewhere in the middle!
I'm still figuring out how precisely the circle of fifths is useful, someone feel free to chime in.