Does the mode make a Difference?

Does the mode make a Difference?

It is commonly known that Plato and Aristotle et.al. believed that music had great power and this power included the ability to influence ethical behavior, character, and even the morals of an individual.  If this ancient Greek hypothesis is true (and I believe that it is) what instrumental music can represent or refer to is vitally important to every Christian musician. When a Christian musician reads the works of Plato and Aristotle he or she must understand that when they refer to god, they are not referring to the mono-theistic God of the Judeo-Christian tradition.  This does not prohibit the Christian music philosopher from learning from these ancient music philosopher’s thoughts.

We also know that both Plato and Aristotle believed that the various musical modes had virtues and meanings, so to put it simply, they were concerned about the understandable musical meaning that referred to extra musical meaning caused by the sounds of instrumental music without words.  Note that the ancient Greeks believed that the music part of instrumental music had great power.  Furthermore, they believed that musicians needed to understand the effect that a musical mode (scale) would have on the listener because every mode represented something that, because of the arrangement, sound and organization of the scale, would have a positive or negative effect on the hearer.  Although ancient Greek music philosophers did not always agree about the effects of the sounds of various musical modes and musical instruments, they did agree that the sounds produced had either a positive or negative effect on the listener. (See translations of The Republic, Politics and Poetics). 

Thought for the Day

Every Christian musician who has astutely observed what music can do to an audience should be skeptical of the view that “music can say absolutely nothing”.