abc notation and "dots"

[killthemessenger]

I know this isn't strictly about whistles...

What's the benefit of abc notation over normal musical (graphical) notation? I'm curious, because until I started reading this site I had never heard of this way of writing down music. I could list what are the benefits, it seems to me, of reading music from graphical notation:

1. easy to sight read because rhythmic and tonal patterns are represented graphically - you can instantly see a simple broken chord pattern and what its tonic is, for instance (and Irish music is full of them)
2. also easy (ahem) to transpose, again because intervals are represented graphically - thirds, fourths, stepwise runs are immediately evident
3. you can notate multi-part pieces in a natural way
4. it's the widest used form of notation, so you have access to the entire western music repertoire, I should think

Did the abc notation spring up as a way of sharing tunes in emails or on BB's? Do a lot of people know how to read abc but not graphical notation?

Anyway, I was curious about it. And I guess I'll have to learn to decypher it if I hang around here! But it looks quite hard to get to grips with - I mean, to the point that you could just play off it.

[MTGuru]

Did the abc notation spring up as a way of sharing tunes in emails or on BB's?

Yes, exactly. It's 7-bit ASCII character code compliant, so it's easy to post, transmit, etc. It's also very handy (and compact) for jotting down music when you don't have staff paper handy (or don't care to draw a staff). I believe that's how it started, with Chris Walshaw writing on napkins.

It's not really intended to be read in real time, though simple melodies can certainly be read with practice. Rather, it's usually passed through one of many software programs to render it to staff notation. The Concertina.net online converter is popular for this, and it produces PDF output.

http://www.concertina.net/tunes_convert.html

The ABC Notation home page is a good place to start:

http://abcnotation.com/

Do a lot of people know how to read abc but not graphical notation?

I doubt it, because ABC is not really an independent system, but simply a direct representation or translation of standard notation in a different form. So it really helps to have a good prior knowledge of standard notation in order to write and read ABC efficiently. But the software makes it easy for even beginners to make use of pre-written ABCs, such as are found in the many, many collections and transcriptions available on the net.

[bogman]

Though I can read straight from abc, what I like best about it is that once you get to know abc it's lightning quick to notate tunes (abc then convert to dots). Very handy for copy and paste, easy to share etc. Because it's basically typing I haven't seen anyone score as fast with the likes of Sibelius as it's possible to do with abc for single line melodies.

[benhall.1]

Though I can read straight from abc, what I like best about it is that once you get to know abc it's lightning quick to notate tunes (abc then convert to dots). Very handy for copy and paste, easy to share etc. Because it's basically typing I haven't seen anyone score as fast with the likes of Sibelius as it's possible to do with abc for single line melodies.

It's also bloody good for noting tunes down quickly on beermats in busy sessions (which is what I believe it was originally designed for ) .

[Steve Bliven]

It's also bloody good for noting tunes down quickly on beermats in busy sessions

The hardest part of the abc process is often finding an empty beermat in busy sessions....

Best wishes.

Steve

[jemtheflute]

I seem to recall, some moons gone by, when I was first getting into internettery and discovered ABC and described it to a certain newbie-mod, he was (as a very competent classical musician) rather dubious/dismissive just like the OP. Now he can sight read it near as well as he does staff notation, I believe, and is (see last-but-one post above) a definite convert to its usefulness.

To be sure, as others have said, it is especially easy to use for those fluent in staff notation once they have absorbed its formats and conventions, since it effectively describes the same info as staff notation using the same conceptual conventions, just in a different form of representation/codification. Yet, for those many who find staff notation mind-boggling and unapproachable, ABC offers a (subjectively, experientially) "easier" and more approachable means to record and share/distribute music notation in any medium. Then there's its typing/computing facility (also mentioned) and all the good (free) software for handling it and all the tune resources recorded in it, using far less memory space and far more searchable than any computer-rendered staff notation needs/can be.........

[killthemessenger]

Don't know where you get dubious/dismissive from - but I would never accuse you of being defensive.

I don't have any notation software; for me it seems very natural to write stuff down on a staff with a pencil, and of course, even in a pub, you can always take a bit of ruled paper along. Fold it and put in your pocket. In fact, Moleskine makes an A6 staff paper notebook. Might not have the same cred, though.

I did try some notation software once which was very laborious to enter music into, so that seems like a good use for the abc. Didn't know about the conversion software.

[bogman]

I find pressing record on my phone better for sessions myself but whatever method works for the individual is fine IMO, they all are ok as long as your notes are discrete - it's usually only a sketch. Who wants to hear folk trying to pick up tunes at a session? ...though it depends on the session I suppose.

[Feadoggie]

Did the abc notation spring up as a way of sharing tunes in emails or on BB's?

In my experience ABC notation in some form pre-date the BB and Internet. I was introduced to it some 50 years ago as a folk musician long before the days of handheld digital recorders. The Internet has done a great deal to formalize the form, which is good.

Feadoggie

[Mr.Gumby]

I think it is better to say there are at least two systems of notation called ABC, only one of which was developed for use on the interwebs, i.e. a text based format that is easily converted to staff notation.

[benhall.1]

Don't know where you get dubious/dismissive from - but I would never accuse you of being defensive.

I don't have any notation software; for me it seems very natural to write stuff down on a staff with a pencil, and of course, even in a pub, you can always take a bit of ruled paper along. Fold it and put in your pocket. In fact, Moleskine makes an A6 staff paper notebook. Might not have the same cred, though.

I did try some notation software once which was very laborious to enter music into, so that seems like a good use for the abc. Didn't know about the conversion software.

I have a funny feeling that you may actually have seen me scribbling away in my own moleskine stave-ruled pocket book in some session somewhere. I take it everywhere.

... and yet still I scribble on beermats ...

[lesl]

I learned abc because the abc player could do slowdown easily. I'd had difficulty with my study tapes of tunes being too fast for me- this was before slow-down software became common. I learned abc using an index card in front of me. I think it took about a month to not need the card. Abc playback doesn't sound like Irish music (different timing etc). But it sure helped with the fingerings and learning the melody of each tune.

At least 3 friends of mine use abc notation but don't read classical notation. Abc is also very handy when someone says, oh could you email me the notes of that tune? I've been asked that so much I could have written a book about it.

[Larry Marshall]

What's the benefit of abc notation over normal musical (graphical) notation?

While several more talented people than I have answered this question, as a new guy, it amazes me that all have missed what I see as the big advantage. It is:

ABC notation, shoved through software, gives me both sheet music and a sound file. So I can download a song, listen to it, and if I like it, I can print the sheet music.

It's also TINY and many notations can be compiled into a large text file that, in turn, becomes a library of music in any of the various softwares available.

Cheers --- Larry

[NicoMoreno]

ABC notation, shoved through software, gives me both sheet music and a sound file. So I can download a song, listen to it, and if I like it, I can print the sheet music.

The problem with sheet music and ABCs is that they don't help train your ear or really help you learn the music. They do help you learn the tune, but you have to learn the music by listening and apply what you've learned to the sheet music / ABCs to bring it to life.

The much bigger problem with MIDI sound files made from the ABC is that it does train your ears. Except that it's completely wrong, so you're listening to, and presumably learning from, something that is completely unlike what it is supposed to sound like.

Friends don't let friends listen to MIDI.

[lesl]

Thing is, when you first come to the music its like Christmas in July when you realize how much of it is on the web in abc and its all free. I printed tons of those midis! But - after that first summer, when I put on my one Bothy Band cd, the tunes sounded completely different, even the same tunes as in an abc file. I remember being crestfallen.. threw away all the printouts..

Nowadays with slow down software you can easily skip the abc and use the real music. It's handy to save abc files as reference, but I encourage my students to use only the recording of the tune for practice - the difference in results is really big.