Aeolian (Natural Minor)
The natural minor scale — melancholic and introspective
Aeolian is the natural minor scale — the most common minor major mode and the relative minor of ionian. Melancholic, serious, introspective. Where Ionian resolves to brightness, Aeolian settles into shadow.
It is built on the 6th degree of the major scale. Like the dorian and phrygian modes, it nests the minor pentatonic.
Common in pop, rock, classical, film scores (sadness and drama), singer-songwriter, and metal — the default minor sound in most Western music.