musical mode

/ˌmjuzəkəl moʊd/

Other forms: musical modes

Definitions of musical mode

1. noun

   any of various fixed orders of the various diatonic notes within an octave
   synonyms: mode

   types:

   Gregorian mode, church mode, ecclesiastical mode, medieval mode

   any of a system of modes used in Gregorian chants up until 1600; derived historically from the Greek mode

   Greek mode

   any of the descending diatonic scales in the music of classical Greece

   major diatonic scale, major scale

   a diatonic scale with notes separated by whole tones except for the 3rd and 4th and 7th and 8th

   minor diatonic scale, minor scale

   a diatonic scale with notes separated by whole tones except for the 2nd and 3rd and 5th and 6th

   C major, C major scale, scale of C major

   (music) the major scale having no sharps or flats

   type of:

   diatonic scale

   a scale with eight notes in an octave; all but two are separated by whole tones