Aeolian Mode
DescriptionThe Aeolian Mode is said to have a sorrowful and sad quality and is commonly used in rock, heavy metal, pop, blues, country, classical, and fusion jazz styles of music. This mode is also called:
Then Aeolian Mode is the sixth mode of the first authentic scale of ancient Greece and was named after the subgroup of people called the Aeolians. The Aeolians were a group of ancient Greeks that lived in a large part of east-central Greece before 1150 B.C. Toward the end of the 1100's, another group of Greeks called the Dorians invaded Aeolian territory, and many Aeolians moved to the western coast of Asia Minor (present day Turkey) and the nearby islands of Tenedos and Lesbos. The coastal district was known as Aeolis. The Aeolians organized themselves in a loose confederacy. Lesbos became a busy trading center and the home of a famous school of poetry. Its most famous poets included Alcaeus and Sappho. In Greek mythology, Aeolus was the father of the winds. The winds lived with their father on the Aeolian Islands. Aeolus kept them in bags and set them free according to his whims. The term "windbag" had its origin in this legend. Greece was the philosophical hotbed of the ancient world. Geographically, most of Greece is made up of many small islands. In ancient times, travelers could not easily travel from island to island. Each island formed a local government having its own set of laws and unique culture. Since one ruler could not exact power over all the islands the society on each island evolved independently (called a Polis). Philosophers, artists, and poets thrived within the polis system since each could practice their trade, teach students, and practice philosophy actively without fear of reprisal by a central ruler. The Aeolian mode of the Major scale was created as philosophers studied the nature of music.
Songs That Use This Scale |