Is this the same tempo as (quarter note) = 90, or is it (half note) = 90?
I know what tempo this is because of the marking next to the bar number, but what does the part below the number mean?
Is this saying to stay at the same tempo? What does the e mean?
Edit: In response to the questions, this is "Be Thou My Vision" by David R. Gillingham, published in 2000 by C. Alan Publications. The preview of the score gives the tempo at 16 as (single quarter note) = 90, so that answers my first question.
Going into 54, we are in 3/4 at 76 bpm—marked as (two quarter notes) = 76, but that apparently means the same thing as a single quarter note. So the marking means the same thing as (quarter note) = (dotted quarter note). From these two examples, it would appear I can ignore the smaller notes entirely. I suppose that answers my question of how to interpret the notation, but it raises another question: why did the composer include them?