Originally Posted by: chucklivesoninmyheartWhile playing the C major scale (natural notes) from E, it thought "am I playing the C major scale or am I playing a mode of it?"
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Until you provide a conceptual or musical context you aren't playing anything but a group of notes from the C major scale.

For example, if you intend to play C major scale exercises, then you could say you are only playing various permutations of the scale. Or, if you intend to play the modes, then starting on E and going up through to the next E an octave higher is the E phrygian mode.

In a musical context, you simply don't until and unless you identify which one of those notes you are currently labelling the root or 1st degree.

Let's use these notes, in this order: e-f-g-a-b-c-d-e.

If I played those notes while at the same time a bass player was playing a pattern of 1/8 note C's, then it would sound like I was playing C major or C ionian.

But if I played those notes while at the same time a bass player was playing a pattern of 1/8 note E's, then it would sound like I was playing E phrygian.

Make sense? Everything depends upon context.

Each mode has a unique sound due to their unique system of intervals. But since they are all integrated with one another, they can also all be thought of as different fretboard patterns or permutations of the parent scale or of each other, too.
[QUOTE=chucklivesoninmyheart]
"If I am playing a mode of it (E/phrygian), would I still be playing the mode if I resolve to a note other than E even though I started it on it?"

Resolution depends upon a pre-established tonality. You have to decide upon a root note, a key & voice motion before you can say there is a resolution.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resolution_(music)