Originally Posted by
omarthefish
I've always taken issue with that metaphor. It suggests really lame form performances. I don't want to get to far pushing it but really scales are not even forms. They are basic exercises like stance training or 2 and 3 move combos on a bag. There's vastly more involved in a decent form performance and the right analogy is really performing an entire piece. A good form performance should have distinct parts. And entrance, build to a crescendo in the middle and some sort of denouement. If you want a musical analogy to fighting I would say something more like a live concert or better still, improvisational jazz.
A full song, like a form, is entirely choreographed but still allows for tremendous room for creative interpretation and personalization . . .but for the most part, all the notes are planned out ahead. It's in creative improvisation where you get the unexpected and the need to adapt to your "co-creators"/opponents. That's where you have to adapt to what other people are doing on the fly and respond appropriately.
The metaphor of scales as forms and song as fighting does a disservice to the requirements of both forms and fighting. It dumbs both of them down.