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Introduction
abc is a language designed to notate tunes in an ascii
format. It was designed primarily for folk and traditional tunes of
Western European origin (such as English, Irish and Scottish) which
can be written on one stave in standard classical notation. However,
it is extendible to many other types of music and recently Steve Allen
has coded Beethoven's Symphony No. 7, Movement 2 in abc! Since its
introduction at the end of 1991 it has become very popular and there
now exist several Windows, Mac, Palmtop and UNIX based tools which can
read abc notation and either process it into staff notation or play it
through the speakers of a computer.
One of the most important aims of abc notation, and perhaps one that
distinguishes it from most, if not all, computer-readable musical
languages is that it can be easily read by humans. In other words,
with a little practice, it is possible to play a tune directly from
the abc notation without having to process and print it out. Even if
this isn't of interest, the resulting clarity of the notation makes it
fairly easy to notate tunes. In addition, the ability to write music
in abc notation means that it can be easily and portably stored or
transported electronically hence enabling the discussion and
dissemination of music via email.
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