Non-ternary 9/8

General notation questions, including advanced notation, formatting, etc., go here.

Moderators: Peter Thomsen, miker

Alvabass
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Finale Version: Finale 25.2
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Post by Alvabass » Mon Jun 05, 2017 7:51 pm

Hi. This is my first post at the Finale Forum. Thank you in advance for your assistance.

I'm writing a piece of music in 4/4 with one 9/8 measure in the middle, but it's not the expected ternary measure (three dotted-quarter beats) but just a regular 4/4 measure with one extra eighth note. No problem annotating this, but my question is: Is it supposed to exist an specific, different notation for this time signature that lets the player know that it's not a ternary 9/8 measure (which is what anybody would think at first), or is he/she supposed to just find out by checking what's written in the piece?

Thank you one more time. Regards.


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Peter Thomsen
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Post by Peter Thomsen » Mon Jun 05, 2017 8:56 pm

If I understand you correctly, your question is a layout question, right?

Here are some ideas:
9-8.jpg
9-8.jpg (27.22 KiB) Viewed 2860 times
The first example uses only the beaming to tell the beat pattern.

The second example adds an explanatory parenthesis above the staff.

The third example displays a compound time signature.
Mac OS X 12.6.9 (Monterey), Finale user since 1996

Alvabass
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Joined: Mon Jun 05, 2017 7:41 pm
Finale Version: Finale 25.2
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Post by Alvabass » Mon Jun 05, 2017 9:46 pm

Peter Thomsen wrote:If I understand you correctly, your question is a layout question, right?

Here are some ideas:
9-8.jpg
The first example uses only the beaming to tell the beat pattern.

The second example adds an explanatory parenthesis above the staff.

The third example displays a compound time signature.

Exactly. And the second option fits what I'm thinking of the best. Thank you very much!

Bill Stevens
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Post by Bill Stevens » Mon Jun 05, 2017 10:29 pm

When I've had measures like that once in a while I have marked them 4 ½ over 4. Yeah, I know, sorta cutesy, but the song was humorous.

Bill
Version 26.3 / 27.4 / Mac OS 10.15.5 Catalina
Finale user since the beginning of time.

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N Grossingink
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Post by N Grossingink » Mon Jun 05, 2017 11:16 pm

Bill Stevens wrote:When I've had measures like that once in a while I have marked them 4 ½ over 4. Yeah, I know, sorta cutesy, but the song was humorous.

Bill
Sounds like Percy Grainger. You're in good company!

N.
N. Grossingink
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Peter S.
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Post by Peter S. » Tue Jun 06, 2017 6:17 am

Alvabass wrote:Exactly. And the second option fits what I'm thinking of the best. Thank you very much!
Why don't you set your time signature to 3/4 + 3/8 then? This would be much easier and faster to read for the musicians. Much better than the explaination above the system...

Peter
Finale 2009 and 27/German on Windows 10

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