Why is feldspar important?

The feldspars are a family of silicate minerals which occur in igneous rocks. There are
many different members to the feldspar group. Obviously, silicon and oxygen form
the foundation for the group, but calcium, sodium, and potassium are also present.
One of these elements is usually dominant, but most of the feldspars contain all 3 in
varying amounts. It is the proportions of these 3 elements which help determine which
specific feldspar is formed. The feldspars are divided into 2 broad categories:
plagioclase, which contains calcium and sodium; and orthoclase, which contains
potassium. The plagioclase feldspars represent the "continuous branch" of Bowen's
Reaction Series, and form a complete series between anorthite (the pure calcium
member), and albite (the sodium-rich variety).
I once saw an estimate that said that 60% of the earth's crust is composed of feldspar.
This is quite a number, and since feldspar is nearly always present in igneous rocks,
most classification schemes depend on the amount and kind of feldspar. In general
terms, mafic and intermediate rocks contain plagioclase, with the more calcium
present, the more mafic the resulting rock. Orthoclase occurs only in
the felsic igneous rocks.
So if we're faced with the need to name an igneous rock, it is important to be able to
distinguish between plagioclase and orthoclase. This is obviously harder than it should
be, and a final determination is often impossible without chemical and/or optical
studies in a lab. We can, however, make an educated guess in the field based on
several assumptions, and a few easily identifiable physical features - color and the
presence (or absence) of "striations." Striations are often visible on plagioclase, and
resemble very fine (almost microscopic) parallel lines cut into the face of a mineral
fragment. All feldspars which have striations are plagioclase, but not all plagioclase
has striations. Only orthoclase can be pink or blue, and only plagioclase can be dark
gray to black.
Unfortunately, both can be light in color, and since most feldspars are nearly white
we're often still faced with a nasty identification problem. If it's white and has
striations, I call it plagioclase. If it's white but I can't see any striations, it may be
either plagioclase or orthoclase. In this case, I just call it feldspar and look for other
clues to come up with a name for the rock. The following graphic summarizes the
field identification of feldspar:

References: http://jersey.uoregon.edu/~mstrick/AskGeoMan/geoQuerry34.html