What are the Seven Modes of Music?

We have the ancient Greeks to thank for the modern seven modes of music, although some of their original modes have been replaced over time. Greek musicians may have been the first to understand the intimate relationship of mathematics and music theory, leading to what we understand as the major and minor scales. A traditional scale may be divided into 8 notes, but the intervals between those notes are not always equal. The Greeks developed scales which began and ended on each note of the original major scale (Ionian) we still hear today. The Greeks named the different scales after cities which reflected the mood of the seven modes of music. Modern music theorists now call these modes Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Locrian.