Church

Church modes

Church modes

Church mode, also called ecclesiastical mode, in music, any one of eight scalar arrangements of whole and half tones, derived by medieval theorists, most likely from early Christian vocal convention.

  1. Why are they called church modes?
  2. What are the 8 church modes in music?
  3. Which are the four church modes?

Why are they called church modes?

tl;dr: We name our modes after Medieval Church modes, which were named after Ancient Greek modes, which were named after ethnic regions in Ancient Greece famous for that kind of sound.

What are the 8 church modes in music?

The eight modes

Seven of them were given names identical with those used in the musical theory of ancient Greece: Dorian, Hypodorian, Phrygian, Hypophrygian, Lydian, Hypolydian, and Mixolydian, while the name of the eighth mode, Hypomixolydian, was adapted from the Greek.

Which are the four church modes?

THE MODES (The Medieval Church Modes)

Ionian (major)C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C
DorianD, E, F, G, A, B, C, D
PhrygianE, F, G, A, B, C, D, E
LydianF, G, A, B, C, D, E, F
MixolydianG, A, B, C, D, E, F, G

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