07:700:131 Lecture 4: Module 4, Part 1
Document Summary
Scales are collections of notes that"s usually presented in abstract, theoretical examples from the lowest to highest octave. Scales were mentioned in ancient civilizations well before the greeks. Pythagoras was the earliest contributor to a systematic, scientific, and arithmetic study of music. He recognized that not all pitches are the same. He plucked a string and divided the string into ratios to hear and measure changes in pitch. Natural major scale served as a standard in teaching music theory. Didn"t come into the west until the renaissance. Modes in early christian times and the middle ages. There were 8 modes / scales by the time it was the middle ages. Considered to have 4 authentic modes: dorian, phrygian, lydian, and mixolydian. Phrygian - westerners consider this mode to sound spanish or arabic. Dorian and mixolydian are the main modes for jazz and blues. Ionian and aeolian are considered to be the natural major and minor scale.
