Is Mode a concept that really only applies to 7 tone scales?

Question

How many modes are there for 8 tone scales?

Answer 1

Historically mode has mostly been used in reference to the 7 church modes, however there's no reason it can't apply to scales of any number of tones. Messiaen used mode to describe about 40 different scales of his own invention that anywhere from 5 - 9 tones.



When it comes to figuring out how many modes there are for 8 tone scales it depends on which 8 tone scale you mean. You could have as many as 8 or as few as 2. The octatonic scale has two modes (and three distinct possible combinations of pitches).



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modes_of_limited_transposition

Answer 2

Read:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_mode



I doubt you will have any more questions.



An 8 tone scale is a diminished scale. Modes are modes. There are 7 of them based on diatonic scales. Any other modes enter a world called polymodalism...interesting stuff.

Answer 3

yes!

Go from C to C, D to D, E to E, F to F, G to G, A to A, B to B without sharps or flats and you have modes.