Britannica
Sources used in this answer
How many church modes formed the basis of medieval plainchant?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
mode
The universality and innate nature of music, and the pentatonic scale, as demonstrated by singer Bobby McFerrin.
Medieval plainchant, specifically Gregorian chant, is based on eight different church modes.1
These modes are organized into four pairs, known as maneriae, with each pair consisting of an "authentic" mode and a corresponding "plagal" mode that shares the same finalis (the final note of the melody). The eight modes are:12
- Protus maneria: Dorian and Hypodorian1
- Deuterus maneria: Phrygian and Hypophrygian1
- Tritus maneria: Lydian and Hypolydian1
- Tetrardus maneria: Mixolydian and Hypomixolydian1
While these modes were later associated with names derived from ancient Greek theory, this application was based on a misunderstanding by medieval theorists regarding the structure of Greek octave species.1