Mode
A set of pitches gathered around a centre, shaping the colour and direction of the music
Related
A mode is a set of pitches plus a centre plus a set of rules for using them. A mere collection of notes is not enough: C major and A natural minor use the same notes, but put the centre on C or on A and the music's gravity points elsewhere.
The Western church modes (Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian and the rest) are seven arrangements beyond major and minor. India's raga and the Arab maqam are often translated as "mode" too, but they also govern ascending and descending lines, ornament and mood — closer to a grammar than to a scale.
The usual mistake is to treat mode and scale as synonyms. A scale says which notes exist and in what order; a mode adds which note is home — see tonality.
Read deeper → Scale · Dorian Mode
Sources
- 教会调式与大小调的关系为通行乐理（参 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "Mode"）；raga 与 maqam 的规则性见 Grove 相应条目；本文为原创表述
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.