Re: \time 9/8 (3/4)

[Kieren MacMillan]

Hi Carl,

> Just curious, because I know precious little about polymetry.
> Does 9/8 (3/4) mean anything different from (3 + 3 + 3)/8 ?

Yes: the parenthetical notation is usually an instruction to alternate time 
signatures, not simply a clarification of intention. For example, in “West Side 
Story”, Bernstein uses 6/8 (3/4) to indicate that alternate bars should be 
felt/conducted as 6/8 then 3/4 then 6/8 then 3/4…

Hope that helps!
Kieren.

p.s.

> To my novice eye, both mean that it's 9/8 with three primary beats per 
> measure.  Also to my novice eye, it seems that 9/8 can/t have a 3/4 alternate 
> time signature; perhaps a (3/4.) , but not a (3/4).

Perhaps the intention is to save the notational ink of changing between triple 
and duple feel? So there continue to be three primary beats per measure, but 
alternating between “triplets“ and “straight eighths” without having to add 
tuplet numbers?