>>It the western world it has 8 modes (7 of which are commonly taught) taken from the Greeks and incorrectly modified by the Church. Each mode evokes (or is said to evoke) a different human emotion.
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>Incorrectly? Really? How?
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Mike;

The Greek Modes come from "Harmonics" of Aristoxenus (ca. 330 BCE) as can best be determined. Church or ecclesiastical (liturgical) modes came about by modification of the Greek modes.





"The musical modes differ essentially from one another, and those
who hear them are differently affected by each. Some of them make men sad
and grave, like the so called Mixolydian; others enfeeble the mind, like
the relaxed modes; another, again, produces a moderate or settled temper,
which appears to be the peculiar effect of the Dorian; and the Phrygian
inspires enthusiasim."

Both Plato and Aristotle insisted that the modes to which a person listened molded the person's character ... even made the person more or less fit for certain jobs. They termed it the 'ethos of music.'... So concepts like "rock 'n roll can rot your mind" are not really so new after all.

At about 510AD, Manlius Boethius was convicted of treason and sentenced to death in his Italian province. He spent his *lengthy* time on death row translating Aristotle's works on logic ... some of the first translations into Italian. He also wrote his own "Consolidation of Philosophy" on how man experiences God and reconciles good and evil in the world.

Part of that philosophy included opinions about which of the modes used in Christian church services matched the ancient Greek modes named by Aristotle. Boethius, of course, bought into the ethos concept, and ascribed the ancient Greek views of mood creation and character formation to the church modes. Bear in mind that Boethius was writing 850 years *after* Aristotle. The poor man couldn't have had a clue as to which church mode matched, e.g. Aristotle's Mixolydian mode. That sort of detail was lost centuries before.

In any case, being first translations, Boethius' works, including "Consolidation .. " were widely spread in Italy ... It was one source used by Pope Gregory in about 600AD when he catalogued and classified the modes used in Christian worship. Within a hundred years after having been written, Boethius' incorrect Greek names for the church modes became the official norm, along with much of the mood and character formation baggage.

If you are interested I can tell you the specific names of the modes and compare Greek vs Church names. This is important if you are playing with other musicians who use modes.

There are many modes and scales from other cultures that are not a part of the western world. However, we "get more press"! :)

Tom