social/reddit

Here is an easy way of remember this descriptively, rather than visually:

There are three flavors of major-sounding modes / scales, each distinguished by a specific note that gives its character:

Ionian (major scale): Sound of a natural 4 (unaltered)
Lydian: Sounds of a sharp 4 (#4)
Mixolydian: Sound of a flat 7 (b7)

The only notes that are common to all three of them (the ones that don’t give the flavor of the scale) are the 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 - we call that set of notes the pentatonic scale. It’s the sound of “major-ness” in general, without any particular flavor.

There are three flavors of minor-sounding modes / scales, again distinguished by specific notes:

Aeolian (natural minor): Sounds of a flat 6 (b6 - sounds classical)
Dorian: Sound of a natural 6 (sounds modern)
Phrygian: Sound of flat 2 (b2 - sounds exotic)

The only notes that are common to all three of them are the 1, b3, 4, 5, and b7 - we call that set of notes the minor pentatonic scale. It’s the sound of “minor-ness” in general, without any particular flavor.

There is one scale / mode that is “diminished” sounding. It is distinguished from all the other modes by having a note that none of the others do, minor or major.

Locrian: Sound of the flat 5, (b5 - the tritone, sounds dissonant)

Note that the b5 is different than the #4, even though they are the same pitch, because of how the note is functioning (as a 4 or as a 5).

The harmonic and melodic minor scales are not separate flavors, so much as they are like switching to a different numerical system. They each have their own set of 7 different modes, with different sounds/flavors to them and different naming systems.