The ancient Greeks believed that music could be used like a presciption drug. Certain kinds of music would remedy certain ailments. For example, the Dorian mode (mode based on the second scale degree of a major scale) was majestic and masculine, perfect for times when a person felt fragile. I'm simplifying, of course, but you get the idea. When Renaissance era humanists began looking again at the classics, they misinterpreted some ideas about the Greek system of modes and harmony, but I find it interesting that they found correlations at all.
Why am I so hung up on modes lately? Well, in music history class in college I remember learning about how the church modes were developed and how they have continued to have an influence on musicians since. In fact, several modes are still used by jazz musicians. Dorian and Mixolydian are commonly discussed by jazz musicians and theorists, and the Aeolian mode is really just a natural minor scale. Ionian is the "classical" term for a major scale, but hardly anyone actually calls it that. They are used to describe a "species" of scale. It is simpler to tell someone to use the Mixolydian mode than to repeatedly tell them to play the major scale with a lowered 7th scale degree. In some cases, using a mode while improvising a solo is easier to keep track of than a whole string of chords. When a mode shares in common the notes of that progression of chords, the soloist knows that they can choose notes from a specific mode and can stay within the key and within "good taste" for the solo.
During this research I learned a bit more about music and the ancient Greeks. I'll tell you about that next time. Interesting stuff!
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