This section provides an introduction to abc notation that should be adequate for making use of the music on this website. It then provides some additional material for those who would like to learn more, and some links to additional resources. Here is an overview of the section.
Important Section Note. For some reason the code used to create playable tunes conflicts with the use of tabbed pages. This section is on several pages; use the buttons above to get you from one page to the next.
Here we look at abc notation: what is it, and why it's so useful. Important note: You don't have to understand how abc notation works to find a tune on the Internet and play it or print it out. But it's a great way of writing out music and is worth knowing at least something about.
What is abc notation?
The abc notation system is a method of writing out music as plain text. It was invented by Chris Walshaw in the 1993. An abc music file can be interpreted by abc software which can display it as standard musical notation, print it out, and play it on your computer’s speakers.
Why is it so useful?
Because abc files are plain text they are easily exchanged between musicians.
I have heard people comment that they don’t like abc notation because they can’t read it and prefer to read standard notation.
How prevalent is abc notation?
Because it’s so convenient abc notation has become practically the default format for writing out fiddle tunes. It’s nearly perfectly suited for writing out a melody line with chord symbols.
Next we look at some of the basic ideas behind abc notation. I include an example to make the workings of abc notation easier to understand.
All tunes are given tune numbers, followed by basic information such as the title, composer, key, tune type, timing, and other elements of a tune. For example, the waltz Amelia would start like this. (Anything after a "%" symbol is a comment and isn't interpreted by the abc software.)
X:1 T:Amelia C:Bob McQuillen R:Waltz % R for rhythm M:3/4 L:1/8 % L is the default note length of a % letter with no number. K:D
This is followed by the code for the melody, chords and any other aspects of the tune that would normally be included in standard notation.
Continuing with Amelia, the A-part melody would look like this:
"D" D3ED2 | "D" D2F3E | "D" D2F2 "G" B2 | "D" A4A2 |\ "G" B3GB2 | "D" A2F2E2 | "Bm" D2B,3B, | "G" B,4 "A7" A,2 | "D" D3ED2 | "D" D2F3E | "D" D2F2 "G;D" B2 | "D;F#m" A4A2 |\ "G" B3cd2 | "Em" d2e2f2 | "A7" e3cB2 | "A7" A4 :|
On the next page we'll look at the abc code in more detail, and also look at the music produced by the code.