The abc format for typesetting music is a simple format that is based on entering the notes of the tune by typing the name of the note into the file. The abc files are common text files, so there is no proprietary storage format involved. The abc tools are free programs that read the abc files and turn them into sheet music and/or MIDI files. Here is an example of a very simple abc file so that you can see what needs to be entered to express a piece of music.
X: 1 T:Twinkle M:C L:1/4 Q:60 C:Traditional S:Arr. Brian S. Kimerer K:G G G d d|e e d2|c c B B|A A G2| |c c B B|A A G2|c c B B|A A G2| G G d d|e e d2|c c B B|A A G2||
After processing the file with abcm2ps I end up with a Postscript file that looks like this:
In the abc file, the music begins after the specification of the key, indicated by the "K:G" line. The line after the key specification is the first line of the music. You can see that the "G G dd" in the first measure coincides with the notes in the first measure of the printable sheet music. I will not go into the details of the abc format here because all of that is documented on the abc web site, http://abcnotation.org.uk/.
To learn a tune I will often typeset the tune in abc format and then transpose it to a comfortable key to play on the banjo. I then print the music out and learn it from the printed notation. There are large collections of folk tunes in the abc format on the web. You can find many of them here: http://trillian.mit.edu/~jc/cgi/abc/tunefind.
The following sections of this page describe the tunes that I have posted on this web site. You can find the music for these tunes on my Musical Scores page.
In the tab files on that page I have shown the hammer-ons and pull-offs using slurs. If I add the little "h" and "p" markers, the tab generation program I use (abctab2ps) puts them under the staff instead of over it, and it looks really bad. So I have left off the letters and represent the hammer-ons and pull-offs both using the slur marking. It is pretty simple to figure out which is which from the notes.
This is a tune that I first learned on the dulcimer and then arranged for the banjo. I don't remember where I first got the tune, but it is a really perky tune that is fun to play fast. The recording was done on my 1890 Fairbanks & Cole A-scale banjo. You might notice that the recorded version is embellished compared to the simple tune that is shown in the sheet music and played in the midi file.
Just for grins I have typeset and tabbed Flop Eared Mule with all of the notes that I play, including the 5th string drone. This makes a midi file that is closer to the recording in the sense that all of the notes are there, unlike the simple melody that I described in the simpler version. The slurs in the tabbed version indicate hammer-ons and pull-offs (see explanation in the general information section, above).
For me it is easier to learn a tune from the simpler melody depiction rather than attempting to learn every note. Once I learn the melody and chords I add the 5th string, hammer-ons and pull-offs by ear. I guess some people like to have everything spelled out on the page. One benefit of having all of the notes is that it records my particular solution of how to get all of the decorations in. Some of it is not obvious, especially hammer-ons and pull-offs on strings that are not plucked as shown in the first measure of the B part of this tune.
I think that when all of the notes are shown, it becomes difficult to pull out the fundamental structure of the tune either by reading the music or by listening to the midi file. The additional notes amount to visual and audio clutter. The tab looks particularly busy when all of the notes are there.
This is one of my favorite tunes. I first learned it on the dulcimer and then on the banjo. The recording of this tune was done on my Goldtone Maple Classic resonator banjo. You can see the banjo on my web site http://www.thekimerers.net/brian/gt/index.html
I recorded this tune on my Fairbanks & Cole A-scale banjo a few years back. Since the banjo I am playing it on is an A-scale banjo, the recording is actually in the key of A instead of G as shown in the sheet music and tab. The fingering is the same as that shown in the tab, but the instrument is tuned up a full step from G to A.
The tune is an old hymn written in 1860 by Robert Wadsworth Lowry. I learned it as a Quaker hymn from a friend who was a Quaker at the time. The tune is such a slow and relaxing tune that I use it to wind down after playing for a while. You can see some photos of the banjo here.
I put this version of the tune together from various versions that I found around the web. I came up with the sheet music as I fooled around with the tune trying to pull the melody out. Once I had the notes down I created the tab to allow me to remember which frets I used for the notes.
I originally wanted to learn the tune in the key of D, which is its normal key, but that proved to be difficult for me, so I learned it in the Drop-C tuning (gCGbd) and to play it in D requires a capo at the second fret plus tuning the 5th string up to a.
The last two lines of the song are just the middle two lines played up an octave.
I got this song from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Here is a direct link to the online sheet music: http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/cgi-bin/sheetmusic.pl?RagDillP&Rag&main.
The song was composed by Charles L. Johnson and copyrighted in 1907, so it is in the public domain now.
I arranged the tune for banjo and entered it into a file in abc format and then used my software to transform it into a .PDF file for printing and a .mid file for listening to.
I really like the tune, "Cluck Old Hen", and when I went looking for tabs I found a bunch of them in slightly different variations. I took what I thought sounded good, rearranging some things so that I liked it better, and ended up with three different versions that I play.
Since I liked all three of them and could not decide which one was my favorite, I started playing them together as a medly. Since then, I always play all three variations of the tune one followed by another, so I renamed it to "Three Old Hens".
I have several recordings of this tune on my Music page so you can hear the same tune on my different banjos for comparison of the sounds. If you listen carefully to the one that I recorded on my big gourd banjo, three-old-hens-gourd3.mp3, you can almost hear the scratching of the hens in the dirt.
I heard a recording of this tune on the web, played by a fellow named Sean Barth. He played it on a new gourd banjo that he had just finished building. I was intrigued by the tune, so I emailed him, and he sent me the tab in ASCII text.
I rearranged the tune slightly, and tabbed it out in a format that is easier to read.