What Is ABC Notation and How Does It Work?
ABC notation is a text-based music notation system: you write a tune as plain letters and symbols in a file, and software turns it into readable sheet music or a playable MIDI file. It is the de facto standard for folk and traditional music, and abcnotation.com alone offers access to around 800,000 tunes as free sheet music or MIDI sound files. It suits anyone who wants to share, search, or archive tunes without a score editor — especially players of traditional, folk, and session music.
Why a text format works for music
Most notation software stores music in a binary or proprietary format that is hard to paste into an email. ABC stores everything as characters, so a whole tune fits in a message, a forum post, or a web page. That is the main reason it spread through folk and traditional communities: a jig or reel can be typed out, corrected, and passed along in seconds.
The site describes the format as concise and text-based, making it easy to share tunes via email or on websites. It also notes that ABC is popular worldwide, particularly for folk and traditional music, with a large proportion of tunes from Irish, Scottish, and other Celtic sources, plus music from America, England, France, Scandinavia, Europe, and a sizeable collection of Chinese music.
How a tune is written
An ABC tune is a header block followed by the notes. The header uses single-letter fields. Here is the well-known tune "Speed the Plough" as given on the site:
X:1
T:Speed the Plough
M:4/4
C:Trad.
K:G
|:GABc dedB|dedB dedB|c2ec B2dB|c2A2 A2BA|
GABc dedB|dedB dedB|c2ec B2dB|A2F2 G4:|
|:g2gf gdBd|g2f2 e2d2|c2ec B2dB|c2A2 A2df|
g2gf g2Bd|g2f2 e2d2|c2ec B2dB|A2F2 G4:|
Reading the fields:
| Field | Meaning | In this example |
|---|---|---|
X: |
Reference number of the tune | 1 |
T: |
Title | Speed the Plough |
M: |
Meter (time signature) | 4/4 |
C: |
Composer | Trad. |
K: |
Key | G |
In the note lines, letters A–G are pitches, | marks bar lines, : marks repeats, and digits change note length — c2 is a note held twice as long as a plain c. Uppercase and lowercase letters sit in different octaves. After processing, a typical result is a normal staff score.
Finding tunes and converting them
The site's search box accepts queries and offers an advanced search plus help. You can browse a top-10 list of tunes (for example "O Then Dearest Helen", "Kalinka", and "Greensleeves") and search by title or in A–Z file order.
To turn ABC text into something you can read or hear:
- Copy the ABC text of a tune.
- Paste it into any ABC-compatible program or web converter.
- Expect two common outputs: rendered sheet music (staff notation) and a MIDI sound file you can play back.
The site points to plenty of free software for Windows, Mac, Linux, and mobile to transfer ABC into scores or MIDI. It also notes specialist software that can generate tablature and fingering charts for guitar, mandolin, banjo, and other fretted stringed instruments, fiddle/violin/viola, diatonic accordion, trumpet, horn, euphonium, tuba, harmonica, and drums.
Common uses
- Sharing by email or on a website — the format's whole advantage; no attachments needed.
- Session tunes and band repertoires — collect and swap sets as text.
- Historical collections — the site hosts online versions of well-known collections such as O'Neill's Music of Ireland, Playford's English Dancing Master, and tunes by Carolan.
- Instrument-specific charts — generate tab or fingering diagrams for the instruments listed above.
- Original music — write and distribute your own tunes in the same format.
Getting started
The site's quick links include "How to ... get started with abc", "understand abc ... basics", and "understand abc ... next", alongside examples, tutorials, a blog, and discussion forums. It also notes seven "How to ... with abc notation" videos. A practical path: read the basics page, take one tune from the top-10 list, paste it into a converter, and compare the text against the rendered score until the fields and note conventions feel familiar.