Christoph Drösser wrote:
I would still recommend treating 8th notes as 8th notes and use a 6/8 or 9/8 time signature, depending on how the 3/8 patterns are grouped.
The thing about 6/8 is that it is usually conceived as a 2 beat measure (
1, 2, 3,
2, 2, 3). Conductors typically conduct 6/8 as 2; as triplets predate eighth notes, it was the "older version of 2/4"; and it's felt primarily as 2 strong beats (the 1st stronger than the 2nd)... all of which takes you away from the feel of 3/8 or 3/4. Substituting 6/8 for 3/8 changes a triple measure into a duple measure, most likely against its will.
Unless there's a compelling reason to use 6/8 for the sake of the 8th notes (e.g. converting a MIDI file that needs 8th note parity), 3/4 seems more of a kindred spirit to 3/8.
Just as 6/8 is "2/4" in disguise, 9/8 similarly traditionally imposes an emphasis of "3/4" over the 3 groups of 3: the downbeat of the first has the most weight, followed by beat 4 then 7:
ONE, 2,3,
4, 5, 6,
7, 8, 9 (or
ONE, 2, 3,
2, 2, 3,
3, 2, 3).
The listener, after all, doesn't need to know what the value of the subdivision is: eighth, quarter, whatever. But they do know the shape of the measure, if it's 1, 2, or 3 groups of 3. In my mind, maintaining 1 group of 3 by going from 3/8 to 3/4 therefore keeps the listener and composer on the same page. FWIW!
