From:    IN%"IRTRAD-L@IRLEARN.BITNET"   "Irish Traditional Music List" 20-DEC-1993 06:40:33.43
To:      Multiple recipients of list IRTRAD-L <IRTRAD-L@IRLEARN.BITNET>
Subject: abc notation
 
I have had several requests for information on how
the abc notation used by abc2mtex works (mostly from
people who haven't got TeX readily set up for them). Anyway,
I've hacked the userguide about a bit and produced this ascii
version (for anyone who might be interested in using it
for swapping or storing tunes electronically).
        Chris Walshaw
        C.Walshaw@gre.ac.uk
 
----------------------------------------------------------------
 
                abc notation
                ^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
Each tune consists of a number of information fields followed  by
the  notes  in  abc  notation.  As  an  example  the  tune  Paddy
O'Rafferty would be written as follows:
 
T:Paddy O'Rafferty
C:Trad.
M:6/8
K:D
dff cee|def gfe|dff cee|dfe dBA|dff cee|def gfe|faf gfe|[1 dfe dBA:|[2 dfe dcB||
~A3 B3|gfe fdB|AFA B2c|dfe dcB|~A3 ~B3|efe efg|faf gfe|[1 dfe dcB:|[2 dfe dBA||
fAA eAA|def gfe|fAA eAA|dfe dBA|fAA eAA|def gfe|faf gfe|dfe dBA:|
 
Although it is of no importance what order the fields come in  if
you  are just using the notation on it's own, the order does have
some importance if the tune is to be typeset  with  abc2mtex.  It
would  be  helpful  (for  those of us who do use it) if the first
field was the tune title (T:) and the last one the key (K:).
 
The following are information fields which can be used at present
(though more can be defined if necessary):-
 
T:      tune title. Some tunes have more than one  title  and  so
        this field can be used more than once per tune.
 
C:      composer (optional). Most of my tunes are C:Trad.
 
M:      meter, i.e. M:4/4, M:6/8, ... In addition M:C or M:C| can
        be used  for common time and cut time respectively.  This
        field  can  also be used in the  middle  of  a  tune  for
        changing meter.
 
S:      source, i.e. where the tune came from (optional).
 
N:      notes, i.e. anything else of interest (optional).
 
O:      origin (1 letter), e.g. O:I - Irish, O:E - English, O:S -
        Scottish, ...  (optional).
 
R:      tune type (1 or 2 letters), e.g. R:R - reel, R:J  -  jig,
        R:SJ - slip jig, ... (optional).
 
Z:      transcription notes (optional).
 
K:      key, e.g. K:D,  K:G,  K:Am,  K:Bb,  ...  Version  1.1  of
        abc2mtex  will also support mixolydian  and  dorian  keys
        e.g. K:AMix or K:EDor This field should be the last field
        used (if you want to make life easy for abc2mtex  users).
        It can, however, also be used in the middle of a tune for
        changing key.
 
 
abc tune notation
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
 
        Notes
        ^^^^^
 
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,
 
 
They can be modified in length - see below.
 
 
        Note lengths
        ^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
Each meter has 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 a quaver (eighth note)  and  so
'abc'  represents  3 quavers. The following meters are recognised
by abc2mtex (the `s' and `l' modifiers - short and long - respec-
tively double or half the default note lengths):-
 
Meter           Default Note Length
2/4             semi-quaver (1/16th note)
2/4s            quaver      (1/8th note)
3/2             crotchet    (1/4 note)
3/2l            quaver      (1/8th note)
3/4s            crotchet    (1/4 note)
3/4             quaver      (1/8th note)
3/4l            semi-quaver (1/16th note)
3/8s            quaver      (1/8th note)
3/8             semi-quaver (1/16th note)
4/4s, Cs, C|s   crotchet    (1/4 note)
4/4, C, C|      quaver      (1/8th note)
4/4l, Cl, C|l   semi-quaver (1/16th note)
5/4             semi-quaver (1/16th note)
6/8             quaver      (1/8th note)
6/8l            semi-quaver (1/16th note)
7/4             quaver      (1/8th note)
9/8             quaver      (1/8th note)
9/8l            semi-quaver (1/16th note)
12/8l           semi-quaver (1/16th note)
 
Notes of different lengths can then be obtained by simply putting
a  multiplier after the letter. Thus in 2/4, 'A' is a semi-quaver
(1/16th note), 'A2' a quaver (1/8th note), 'A3' a dotted  quaver,
'A4'  a crotchet (1/4 note), 'A6' a dotted crotchet, 'A8' a minim
(1/2 note), and so on, whilst in 3/4 'A'  is  a  quaver,  'A2'  a
crotchet, 'A3' a dotted crotchet, 'A4' a half note, ...
 
 
        Rests
        ^^^^^
 
Rests are generated with a 'z' and can be modified in  length  in
exactly the same way as notes can.
 
 
        Beams
        ^^^^^
 
How notes are grouped  together  under  a  beam  is  only  really
relevant  if  you  are  typesetting  the music. However, grouping
notes together in the abc notation does make the tune much easier
to  'read'  straight from the ascii, e.g. in a jig notes are nor-
mally grouped in two triplets to the bar - in abc  notation  this
looks like '|abc def|ABC DEF|'.
 
To group notes together under one beam for abc2mtex  they  should
be  grouped together without spaces. Thus in 2/4 'A2BC' will pro-
duce a quaver followed by two semi-quavers 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 chosen automatically.
 
 
        Repeat/bar symbols
        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
The symbols '|', '||', ':|', '|:' & '::'  are  used  respectively
for  a bar line, double bar, left repeat, right repeat and left &
right repeat.
 
 
        First & Second Repeats
        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
First & second repeats can be written with  the  symbols  '[1'  &
'[2'. These should come after the bar or repeat symbol, i.e.
faf gfe|[1 dfe dBA:|[2 dfe dcB||
 
 
        Accidentals
        ^^^^^^^^^^^
 
The symbols '^', '=' and '_' are used (before a note) to generate
respectively a sharp, natural or flat.
 
 
        Changing key mid-tune
        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
To change key simply put in a line with a key  (K:)  field,  e.g.
K:D
ed|cecA B2ed|cAcA E2ed|cecA B2ed|c2A2 A2:|
K:G
AB|cdec BcdB|ABAF GFE2|cdec BcdB|c2A2 A2:|
 
 
        Changing meter mid-tune
        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
This is accomplished in exactly the same  way  as  changing  key,
only with a meter (M:) field.
 
 
        Ties
        ^^^^
 
You can tie two notes together across a bar with a '-' symbol im-
mediately before the bar, e.g. 'abc-|cba'.
 
 
        Triplets and Quadruplets
        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
These can be simply coded with the notation '(3abc' for a triplet
or '(4abcd' for a quadruplet.
 
 
        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 write is to put a ~ before the note (e.g.
 ~A3) to mean a roll, cran or stacatto triplet (dependent on what
you  are  playing,  what you're playing it on and how you feel at
the time).
 
However, to explicitly write out grace notes, just  put  them  in
curly  braces,  {  }, e.g. '{g}fed'. This allows even the complex
Highland pipe gracings to be written and, for  example,  a  taor-
luath would be written {GdGe}.
 
 
        Staccato Notes
        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
Staccato marks (a small dot above or below the note head - useful
for  Uileann  pipers)  can be written with a dot before the note,
i.e. a staccato triplet is  written  as  '(3.a.b.c'.   Rolls  and
staccato markers cannot be combined on one note.
 
 
        Order of Symbols
        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
The  order  of   symbols   for   one   note   is   <roll/staccato
marker><accidental><note><octave><note   length>  e.g.  ~^c'3  or
.=G,2
 
 
abc2mtex extras
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
A couple of extra things are provided to aid the typesetting of a
tune  by abc2mtex. One is an extra information field E: which can
be used to change the internote spacing in order to spread  tunes
out or squeeze them up.
 
The second typesetting symbol is a \ and is used to inhibit  line
breaking.   Generally  one  line of abc notation will produce one
line of music. However, to use two lines of abc to  generate  one
line  of  music  a \ is put at the end of the first line. This is
also useful for changing meter or key for a bar in the middle  of
a line of music.
 
 
Anything else
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
The notation can easily be expanded to include other musical sym-
bols  (two examples that spring to mind are bowing marks for fid-
dlers and chords for guitarists). Please mail me with any sugges-
tions.
 
Chris Walshaw
<C.Walshaw@gre.ac.uk>
