It's the transcription of the tune. TheSession (and many other sites) allow people to share tunes, which they transcribe in ABC, a kind of notation format. All the dots on this site are generated from the ABC. It's not too hard to read (and it's designed to be written by humans).
llig just has an axe to grind because he can't afford the ITM-4000 implant.
I would give a longer answer but I've just spilled an *entire* plate of baked beans on the carpet.
If you click on the midi thing, it will give all the musical information contained in the abc. If you think this is adequate to learn/share a tune, feck off.
OK. Maybe I shouldn't worry about it, but I'm the curious sort that likes to understand the details..... below is the ABC tab for the tune Blind Mary. Take a look at the last four rows..... here's how I think it works..... can someone confirm I've got it right.
The letters are the notes to be played.
Upper case (capital) letters are lower octave.
Lower case letters are upper octave.
Numbers next to letters reflect the number of beats to hold.
Not sure how the punctuation works.... can someone help me with that bit? What do >/| mean? Can't seem to see a correlation between phrasing up/down etc.
Oh, and what does the first row mean X:1??
Despite all of the ABC-bashing that goes on here, I think it has some uses. I don't really learn tunes using ABC... I try to learn them by ear, and consult the ABC for any quick phrases that go by faster than my ears can process them!
if you go here you can transpose up or down by a tone but not a semitone! which is annoying. http://www.slainte.ch/abc.asp
In the comments tab you also can find a number of other versions in ABC. I generally check them all out and transpose a few times till I get close to what i want.
Of course the dots only give a rough picture, you need to listen to a lot of trad, and older trad in particular to understand how it all fits together.
once upon a time there was no writing, and old blind guys had jobs remembering everything and reciting it with varying degrees of style and expertise. Then we discovered that those marks the merchants used to count jars of olives and sheep could be used to represent speech sounds, and now the old blind guys are out of work, and we have ABC. Gain or loss?
there is no doubt I gave more attention to my ears when my eyesight was failing. So, what you say has merit.
Now my eyesight is restored & the fact that I can see clearly (including the despised Abcs) has little to no effect on how I choose to use my ears. I wish some on site would recognize that when you are legally blind you're not as helpless as sighted people tend to think. The ones who were resourceful did find work.
Re: llig's comment...... I'm just a curious sort.... nothing more. It's part of the information posted for each tune, so there's a reason it's there, hence my wanting to get a handle on it. Now I know! I don't see myself leaning on ABCs.... I've got plenty of sheet music, Internet resources, CDs and the like to dig into..... am learning lots of tunes from those sources.
Thanks to all of you for your input..... much appreciated.
ABCs
ABCs
Can someone explain the "ABC" tab that comes with each tune.
# Posted on March 26th 2009 by CW
Re: ABCs
it's a pale immitation of what was once music. Avoid it at all cost and learn tunes off things with flesh and blood, not mere electrons and silicon.
# Posted on March 26th 2009 by llig leahcim
Re: ABCs
It's the transcription of the tune. TheSession (and many other sites) allow people to share tunes, which they transcribe in ABC, a kind of notation format. All the dots on this site are generated from the ABC. It's not too hard to read (and it's designed to be written by humans).
llig just has an axe to grind because he can't afford the ITM-4000 implant.
I would give a longer answer but I've just spilled an *entire* plate of baked beans on the carpet.
# Posted on March 26th 2009 by Joe Wass
Re: ABCs
If you click on the midi thing, it will give all the musical information contained in the abc. If you think this is adequate to learn/share a tune, feck off.
# Posted on March 26th 2009 by llig leahcim
Re: ABCs
Why wouldn't it be enough to learn the tunes off Llig? This music is easy after all.
# Posted on March 26th 2009 by No Cause For Alarm
Re: ABCs
You can learn a tune off me any time. But not via the internet
# Posted on March 26th 2009 by llig leahcim
Re: ABCs
Carol,
Here are two sites with some information about ABC:
http://abcnotation.org.uk/
http://www.abc-notation.com/introduction/index.html
# Posted on March 26th 2009 by Pat Mustard
Re: ABCs
OK. Maybe I shouldn't worry about it, but I'm the curious sort that likes to understand the details..... below is the ABC tab for the tune Blind Mary. Take a look at the last four rows..... here's how I think it works..... can someone confirm I've got it right.
The letters are the notes to be played.
Upper case (capital) letters are lower octave.
Lower case letters are upper octave.
Numbers next to letters reflect the number of beats to hold.
Not sure how the punctuation works.... can someone help me with that bit? What do >/| mean? Can't seem to see a correlation between phrasing up/down etc.
Oh, and what does the first row mean X:1??
X: 1
T: Blind Mary
M: 2/4
L: 1/8
R: polka
K: Dmaj
A|d2 d>c|B2 AF/G/|A>B AF|E3 FG|
Af f>e|dB AD/E/|F>G E>D|D3||
d/e/|f>g fB|e>c AB/c/|d>D DE/F/|E3 A/G/|
F>G Ad|f>e dD/E/|F>G E>D|D3||
# Posted on March 26th 2009 by CW
Re: ABCs
LowWhistler.... thanks for the links.... very helpful! Starting to make sense now! Very cool!
# Posted on March 26th 2009 by CW
Re: ABCs
Carol, have yuo nae friends to learn tunes from? Or at the very least, some CDs?
# Posted on March 26th 2009 by llig leahcim
Re: ABCs
Despite all of the ABC-bashing that goes on here, I think it has some uses. I don't really learn tunes using ABC... I try to learn them by ear, and consult the ABC for any quick phrases that go by faster than my ears can process them!
# Posted on March 26th 2009 by Pat Mustard
Re: ABCs
Now if you go here;
http://www.concertina.net/tunes_convert.html
it will convert the ABC to dots. and then to PDF
if you go here you can transpose up or down by a tone but not a semitone! which is annoying.
http://www.slainte.ch/abc.asp
In the comments tab you also can find a number of other versions in ABC. I generally check them all out and transpose a few times till I get close to what i want.
Of course the dots only give a rough picture, you need to listen to a lot of trad, and older trad in particular to understand how it all fits together.
# Posted on March 26th 2009 by piobagusfidil
ABC transposer (semitones)
http://www.folkinfo.org/songs/abcconvert.php
# Posted on March 26th 2009 by Ben Steen
Re: ABCs
once upon a time there was no writing, and old blind guys had jobs remembering everything and reciting it with varying degrees of style and expertise. Then we discovered that those marks the merchants used to count jars of olives and sheep could be used to represent speech sounds, and now the old blind guys are out of work, and we have ABC. Gain or loss?
# Posted on March 26th 2009 by Dave McGrath
Re: ABCs
Dave, I am forever grateful to my opthamologist.
# Posted on March 26th 2009 by Ben Steen
Re: ABCs
ABC? Just an easy way out for people who can't be bothered to learn how to read/write music. Hee hee hee . . .
# Posted on March 26th 2009 by McDermott
~
there is no doubt I gave more attention to my ears when my eyesight was failing. So, what you say has merit.
Now my eyesight is restored & the fact that I can see clearly (including the despised Abcs) has little to no effect on how I choose to use my ears. I wish some on site would recognize that when you are legally blind you're not as helpless as sighted people tend to think. The ones who were resourceful did find work.
# Posted on March 26th 2009 by Ben Steen
Re: ABCs
Hi Carol - here's what to do!
1) Ignore the abc knockers like llig. Abc has its limitations, but it also has its uses and it isn't going to go away!
2) Take the time to read one of the online tutorials. I would recommend this one:
http://www.lesession.co.uk/abc/abc_notation.htm
3) Having done that, if you still have a question about abc, send me an email via thesession. I'll do my best to answer your question.
# Posted on March 26th 2009 by Mix O'Lydian
Re: ABCs
Re: llig's comment...... I'm just a curious sort.... nothing more. It's part of the information posted for each tune, so there's a reason it's there, hence my wanting to get a handle on it. Now I know! I don't see myself leaning on ABCs.... I've got plenty of sheet music, Internet resources, CDs and the like to dig into..... am learning lots of tunes from those sources.
Thanks to all of you for your input..... much appreciated.
# Posted on March 26th 2009 by CW