Marion, on 30-Sep-01 - 01:23 AM you asked:

" . . . So my question is: what is the most useful thing to be doing with your brain while practicing scales, with the object of learning to improvise? [a] Think about the note names? [b] Think about the spatial patterns? [c]Or not think about it at all?"

[c] is the deal, [b] is second best, you only need [a] if you're jamming with someone and they tell you how the tune goes.

Practicing scales is not improvising. Improvising is, by definition, making it up as you go. When you're practicing scales, you're at the other end of the spectrum - doing rote.

Practicing is not, of course, wasted. When you're running scales, you're getting your body and mind together. Thus, the best use of your mind when doing scales is associating the physical means of manipulating the instrument (fingers for guitar and sax, breath for horns and harps) with the music in your mind so you can get your body to reproduce the stuff in your mind when you want.

When improvising at that point, the ideal is Zen thing - not thinking, just doing. Or at least pausing to think about where you want to go next, and being able to get there, thanks to all of that practice. Of course, you need to get outside of that strict scale pattern as well . . . Hope this helps!