I have created this description of abc notation for those who do not want to (or cannot) use the package abc2mtex but who wish to understand the notation. It has been generated semi-automatically from the abc2mtex userguide and so occasionally refers to other parts of the package. In particular, it mentions the document index.tex, a guide to using abc2mtex for archiving and indexing tunes, and to the example files Xenglish.abc, Xstrspys.abc and Xreels.abc. It also refers to playabc, a separate package for playing abc tunes through the speaker of various machines. It is best read in conjunction with an introduction to abc notation available by anonymous ftp from celtic.stanford.edu/pub/tunes/abc2mtex/INTRO.txt or, if you have WWW access, http://celtic.stanford.edu/pub/tunes/abc2mtex/INTRO.html Note that if you are intending to use the notation solely for transcribing tunes, you can ignore most of description of the information fields as all you really need are the T (title), M (meter), K (key), and possibly L (default note length) fields. I have included a full description however, for those who wish to understand tunes transcribed by users of the package. Finally, the notation can easily be expanded to include other musical symbols. Please mail me with any suggestions. Chris Walshaw C.Walshaw@gre.ac.uk ----------------------------------------------------------------- The abc Notation System ======================= Each tune consists of a header and a body. The header, which is composed of information fields, should start with an X (reference number) field followed by a T (title) field and finish with a K (key) field. The body of the tune in abc notation should follow immediately after. Tunes are separated by blank lines. Information fields ================== The information fields are used to notate things such as composer, meter, etc. in fact anything that isn't music. Most of the information fields are for use within a tune header but in addition some may be used in the tune body, or elsewhere in the tune file. Those which are allowed elsewhere can be used to set up a default for the whole or part of a file. For example, in exactly the same way that tunebooks are organised, a file might start with M:6/8 and R:Jigs, followed by some jigs, followed by M:4/4 and R:Reels, followed by some reels. Tunes within each section then inherit the M: and R: fields automatically, although they can be overridden inside a tune header. By far the best way to find out how to use the fields is to look at the example files (in particular Xenglish.abc) and try out some examples. Thus rather than describing them in detail, they are summarised in the following table. The second, third and fourth columns specify respectively how the field should be used in the header and whether it may used in tune body or elsewhere in the file. Certain fields do not affect the typeset music but are there for other reasons, and the fifth column reflects this; index fields only affect the index (see index.tex) while archive fields do not affect the output at all, but are just provided to put in information that one might find in, say, a conventional tunebook. Field name header tune elsewhere Used by Examples and notes ========== ====== ==== ========= ======= ================== A:area optional A:Donegal, A:Bampton B:book optional yes archive B:O'Neills C:composer optional C:Trad. D:discography optional archive D:Chieftans IV E:elemskip optional yes see Line Breaking F:file name yes see index.tex G:group optional yes archive G:flute H:history optional yes archive H:This tune said to ... I:information optional yes playabc K:key last yes K:G, K:Dm, K:AMix L:default note length optional yes L:1/4, L:1/8 M:meter optional yes yes M:3/4, M:4/4 N:notes optional N:see also O'Neills - 234 O:origin optional yes index O:I, O:Irish, O:English P:parts optional yes P:ABAC, P:A, P:B Q:tempo optional yes Q:200, Q:C2=200 R:rhythm optional yes index R:R, R:reel S:source optional S:collected in Brittany T:title second yes T:Paddy O'Rafferty W:words no yes W:Hey, the dusty miller X:reference number first X:1, X:2 Z:transcription note optional Z:from photocopy Some additional notes on certain of the fields:- T - tune title. Some tunes have more than one title and so this field can be used more than once per tune - the first time will generate the title whilst subsequent usage will generate the alternatives in small print. The T: field can also be used within a tune to name parts of a tune - in this case it should come before any key or meter changes. K - key; apart from major and minor keys, e.g. K:D or K:Am, mixolydian and dorian modes can also be specified with, for example K:AMix or K:EDor. In addition, there are two keys specifically for notating highland bagpipe tunes; K:HP doesn't put a key signature on the music, as is common with many tune books of this music, while K:Hp marks the stave with F sharp, C sharp and G natural. Both force all the beams and staffs to go downwards. L - default note length; i.e. L:1/4 - quarter note, L:1/8 - eighth note, L:1/16 - sixteenth, L:1/32 - thirty-second. The default note length is also set automatically by the meter field M: (see below). M - meter; apart from the normal meters, e.g. M:6/8 or M:4/4, the symbols M:C and M:C| give common time and cut time respectively. P - parts; can be used in the header to state the order in which the tune parts are played, i.e. P:ABABCDCD, and then inside the tune to mark each part, i.e. P:A or P:B. Q - tempo; can be used to specify the notes per minute, e.g. if the default note length is an eighth note then Q:120 or Q:C=120 is 120 eighth notes per minute. Similarly Q:C3=40 would be 40 dotted quarter notes per minute. An absolute tempo may also be set, e.g. Q:1/8=120 is also 120 eighth notes per minute, irrespective of the default note length. G - group; to group together tunes for indexing purposes. H - history; can be used for multi-line stories/anecdotes, all of which will be ignored until the next field occurs. abc tune notation ================= The following letters are used to represent notes:- d' -c'- ---- b -a- --- ---- ---- g ------------------------------------f------------------- e --------------------------------d----------------------- c ----------------------------B--------------------------- A ------------------------G------------------------------- F --------------------E----------------------------------- D ---- ---- ---- -C- B, ---- -A,- G, and by extension, the notes C, D, E, F, a' and b' are available. Notes can be modified in length (see below). Rests ===== Rests are generated with a z and can be modified in length in exactly the same way as notes can (see below). Note lengths ============ NB Throughout this document I refer to note lengths as sixteenth, eighth, etc. The commonly used equivalents are sixteenth note = semi-quaver, eighth = quaver, quarter = crotchet and half = minim. Each meter automatically sets a default note length and a single letter in the range A-G, a-g will generate a note of this length. For example, in 3/4 the default note length is an eighth note and so the input DEF represents 3 eighth notes. The default note length can be calculated by computing the meter as a decimal; if it is less than 0.75 the default is a sixteenth note, otherwise it is an eighth note. For example, 2/4 = 0.5, so the default note length is a sixteenth note, while 4/4 = 1.0 or 6/8 = 0.75, so the default is an eighth note. Common time and cut time (M:C and M:C|) have an eighth note as default. Notes of differing lengths can be obtained by simply putting a multiplier after the letter. Thus in 2/4, A or A1 is a sixteenth note, A2 an eighth note, A3 a dotted eighth note, A4 a quarter note, A6 a dotted quarter note, A7 a double dotted quarter note, A8 a half note, A12 a dotted half note, A14 a double dotted half note, A15 a triple dotted half note and so on, whilst in 3/4, A is an eighth note, A2 a quarter note, A3 a dotted quarter note, A4 a half note, ... To get shorter notes, either divide them - e.g. in 3/4, A/2 is a sixteenth note, A/4 is a thirty-second note - or change the default note length with the L: field. Alternatively, if the music has a broken rhythm, e.g. dotted eighth note/sixteenth note pairs, use broken rhythm markers (see below). Note that A/ is shorthand for A/2. Broken Rhythms ============== A common occurrence in traditional music is the use of a dotted or broken rhythm. For example, hornpipes, strathspeys and certain morris jigs all have dotted eighth notes followed by sixteenth notes as well as vice-versa in the case of strathspeys. To support this abc notation uses a > to mean `the previous note is dotted, the next note halved' and < to mean `the previous note is halved, the next dotted'. Thus the following lines all mean the same thing (the third version is recommended): L:1/16 a3b cd3 a2b2c2d2 L:1/8 a3/2b/2 c/2d3/2 abcd L:1/8 a>b c<d abcd As a logical extension, >> means that the first note is double dotted and the second quartered and >>> means that the first note is triple dotted and the length of the second divided by eight. Similarly for << and <<<. Duplets, Triplets, Quadruplets, etc. ==================================== These can be simply coded with the notation (2ab for a duplet, (3abc for a triplet or (4abcd for a quadruplet, etc., up to (9. The musical meanings are (so I'm told): (2 2 notes in the time of 3 (3 3 notes in the time of 2 (4 4 notes in the time of 3 (5 5 notes in the time of n (6 6 notes in the time of 2 (7 7 notes in the time of n (8 8 notes in the time of 3 (9 9 notes in the time of n If the time signature is compound (3/8, 6/8, 9/8, 3/4, etc.) then n is three, otherwise n is two. Beams ===== To group notes together under one beam they should be grouped together without spaces in the tune file. Thus in 2/4, A2BC will produce an eighth note followed by two sixteenth notes under one beam whilst A2 B C will produce the same notes separated. The beam slopes and the choice of upper or lower staffs are generated automatically. Repeat/bar symbols ================== The symbols | || :| |: and :: generate a bar line, double bar, left repeat, right repeat and left/right repeat respectively. First and Second Repeats ======================== First and second repeats can be generated with the symbols |1 and :|2, e.g. faf gfe|1 dfe dBA:|2 d2e dcB||. The previous notation [1 and [2 is still supported but produces slightly different output. N.B. With regard to spaces | [1 is legal, | 1 is not. Accidentals =========== The symbols ^ = and _ are used (before a note) to generate respectively a sharp, natural or flat. Changing key, meter, and default note length mid-tune ===================================================== To change key, meter, or default note length, simply put in a new line with a K: M: or L: field, e.g. ed|cecA B2ed|cAcA E2ed|cecA B2ed|c2A2 A2:| K:G AB|cdec BcdB|ABAF GFE2|cdec BcdB|c2A2 A2:| To do this without generating a new line of music, put a \ at the end of the first line, i.e. E2E EFE|E2E EFG|\ M:9/8 A2G F2E D2|| Ties and Slurs ============== You can tie two notes together either across or within a bar with a - symbol, e.g. abc-|cba or abc-cba. More general slurs can now be put in and are started and terminated with an s before the relevant note. Thus sDEFsG puts a slur over the four notes DEFG. Gracings ======== With regard to gracings, I fall in the Irish music camp which says that you transcribe gracings as little as possible and leave it up to the players to make their own interpretation. Thus the only gracing I tend to use is to put a tie/slur marker under a note which will generally mean a roll, cran or staccato triplet. This is achieved by putting a ~ before the note. However, to explicitly write out every grace note, just put them in curly braces, {}. For example, a taorluath on the Highland pipes would be written {GdGe}. The tune `Athol Brose' (in the file Xstrspys.abc) has an example of complex Highland pipe gracing in all its glory. Accents ======= Staccato marks (a small dot above or below the note head) can be generated by a dot before the note, i.e. a staccato triplet is written as (3.a.b.c For fiddlers, the letters u and v can be used to denote up-bow and down-bow, e.g. vAuBvA Chords ====== Chords (i.e. more than one note head on a single stem) can be coded with + signs around the notes, e.g. +CEGc+ produces the chord of c major. They can be grouped in beams, e.g. +d2f2++ce++df+, but note the use of two + symbols, one to end the first chord and one to start the second. Note that the code which handles this part of the output is a bit sensitive and you may need to fiddle around a bit with the order of the notes in the chord to get it looking right. See the tune `Kitchen Girl' in the file Xreels.abc for a simple example. Guitar Chords ============= Guitar chords can be put in under the melody line by enclosing the chord in inverted commas, e.g. "Am7"A2D2 . See the tune `William and Nancy' in Xenglish.abc for an example. Order of Symbols ================ The order of symbols for one note is <guitar chords>, <accents> (e.g. roll, staccato marker or up/downbow), <accidental>, <note>, <octave>, <note length>, i.e. ~^c'3 or even "Gm7"v.=G,2 Comments ======== A % symbol will cause the remainder of any input line to be ignored. The file Xenglish.abc contains plenty of examples. Introducing New Notation ======================== The letters H-Z inclusive have been set aside to allow users to introduce their own additional symbols. One such example is J to denote sliding up to a note. Line Breaking and Justification =============================== Generally one line of abc notation will produce one line of music, although if the music is too long it will overflow onto the next line. This can look very effective, but it can also completely ruin ties across bar lines, for example. You can counteract this by changing either the internote spacing with the E: field or break the line of abc notation. If, however, you wish to use two lines of input to generate one line of music (see, for example, the `Untitled Reel' in Xreels.abc) then simply put a \ at the end of the first line. This is also useful for changing meter or key in the middle of a line of music. By default, lines of music are left-justified but not right- justified. To overcome this, a * at the end of each line of abc notation will force a right-justified line-break. For the final line of a tune put ** (so as to not generate a new line). Be warned, however, that if a line is not very long or has overflowed to become two lines, this can look very ugly as the notes spread themselves out along the line. It can also give ugly output other people using the abc file who may have different layout parameters. Internote spacings ================== The internote spacing is set by the information field E. As the format is set up now, I use E:8 and E:7 to squeeze long tunes up a bit and E:10 and above to stretch short tunes. Using E:6 really looks too cramped to my eye. TeX Input ========= If there is a line in a tune file beginning with a \, it is put directly into the output file (music.tex).