Does the scale really matter?

[Slowjamz]

Im with the "if it sounds good" it is good!!

[Ah_Dziz]

As with most things in music. It's relative. The scale matters in relation to the chords you're playing. It matters in relation to the key of your piece. Knowing how these things are related is very useful in understanding how they will interact. You can get by while remaining ignorant of all these things, but the majority of the time it will just make things more difficult especially if you end up not knowing what to do next. Or if you have to speak to anybody else about your music. It's always nice to have an idea of what the "rules" are. Even when you are breaking them it will make more sense to you why you've done what you've done and when it would be interesting to do it again.

[jsaras]

You can go from any root to ANY root, and each one is its own key center.

[Benedict]

While part of me wants to say sorta No, it is more Yes than no. But it does not have to be rigid. It just has to make sense to the listener. And that varies with the listener as a Stockhausen or Cage listener will be a lot more able to flow with 'interesting' things than say an Ed Sheepmann listener.

So it is wise to understand your Key & Scale and where and when you might add or lose value from stepping outside of that.