There are, obviously, a lot of engraving conventions that were
different in Beethoven's day.
For newly written music, though, whether it's in 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, or any
other non-compound meter, I never beam three eighth notes together
unless they form a triplet.
In general, I beam to the beat with the following exceptions:
In 2/4, I beam groups of 4 eighth notes.
In 4/4, I beam groups of 4 eighth notes if they begin on beat 1 or
beat 3.
In 3/4, I beam groups of 2, 4, or 6 eighth notes if they begin on the
beat.
This is a minor departure from traditional practice, but I'm far from
the only one who beams this way. It makes entrances off-the-beat
easier to read, and makes triplets easier to see at a glance,
especially when a passage freely mixes triplet eighths and regular
eighths.
Cheers,
- Darcy
-----
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Brooklyn, NY
On 31 Mar 2008, at 10:46 PM, Neal Gittleman wrote:
Pace those who think differently, Beethoven doesn't seem to have
much problem with either formulation...
dottted-quarter plus three eighths is all over the first movement of
the Eroica (well, strictly speaking, not, since he always writes it
as quarter, eighth-rest, three eighths) and also throughout the
Egmont Overture (again, with the rest
Schumann also uses dotted-quarter plus three eights in several
passages in the first movement of his Second Symphony
quarter plus four eighths IS all over the first movement of
Beethoven 8.
Context certainly does matter, but in none of these cases is there
anything remotely problematic about the notation.
ng
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