The natural major scale (Ionian) is sometimes referred to as “The Mother of all Scales”.

The reason for this being that we relate all other scales to the major scale. We could say the Dorian mode is just like the major scale but has a minor third and minor seventh intervals.

The modes of the major scale are very popular in all forms of music. The Aeolian (Natural Minor), and Mixolydian modes as well as the Ionian see a lot of use in rock, folk, pop, classical, and jazz music.

The Seven Modes of the Major Scale