What is Musical mode?
'''Modes''' in music are a kind of [[scale (music)|scale]]. The [[Ancient Greece|Ancient Greeks]] used several modes in their music. Medieval musicians borrowed the names of these modes to describe the scales used in their music. Western music predominantly usually uses two scales: '''major''' and '''minor, '''which correspond to the Ionian and Aeolian modes. Like any other scale, a mode can start on any note. Each mode has a different pattern of tones and semitones (or “half tones”) (see [[semitone]]). * The Western major scale (e.g. the C major scale C D E F G A B C) starts on its KEY NOTE and goes up using the following pattern of tones and semitones between each note: tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone, semitone. * The Western natural minor scale (e.g. the A natural minor scale A B C D E F G A) does the same, but it has a different pattern of tones and semitones between each note: tone, semitone, tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone. The modes are easiest to see on a piano keyboard using the white notes only. The most common modern modes are: * Ionian (C D E F G A B C) * Dorian (D E F G A B C D) * Phrygian (E F G A B C D E) * Lydian (F G A B C D E F) * Mixolydian (G A B C D E F G) * Aeolian (A B C D E F G A) * Locrian (B C D E F G A B) It will be seen that * The Ionian mode is the major scale. * The Dorian is a natural minor scale with a major sixth. * The Phrygian is a natural minor scale with a minor second. * The Lydian is a major scale with an augmented fourth. * The Mixolydian is a major scale with a minor seventh. * The Aeolian is the natural minor scale. * The Locrian sounds rather strange, and was hardly ever used in Medieval music. It is a minor scale with a minor second and a diminished fifth. Each mode also has a version called “hypo—“. For example: A to A is Hypodorian. It is the same as Aeolian, but the D is treated as the “keynote”. The names of the modes come from [[city|cities]] in Ancient Greece. In the Middle Ages these modes were widely used in [[church music]]. Some composers in re