Everybody will tell you, "The good players have all learned their scales." Not for passing exams, but for getting up and down your keyboard in a variety of keys. But popular music is based, more often than not, on the five-note pentatonic scales, which have, in effect, no wrong notes. Let's rather practice those, then.

And while we're about it, how about throwing in some cool, jazz/blues rhythms? So, for you, six minor pentatonic scales explained and demonstrated with entry-level practice drills, and a progressive series of jazz-blues rhythms to play them in. It really is music off the shelf.