abc software packages

There is now a vast array of software (mostly freeware or shareware) which can read or edit abc. It is almost impossible to maintain a list of what software has which functionality on each platform but the following tables may help (N.B. the entries are based on what software developers say about their own programs rather than independent testing).

Disclaimer: Although written to read and/or write abc, software listed on this page is not the responsibility of abcnotation.com and its inclusion here does not represent a recommendation. If you have any problems, suggestions or comments on any of the programs listed, please report it to the software developer.

First select your platform:

• Web-based software
• Windows software
• Mac software
• Linux/Unix software
• Mobile (Palm, iPhone, etc) software
• Command Line software
• Multi-platform software

Web-based software

Back to top

Windows software

Back to top

Mac software

Back to top

Linux/Unix software

Back to top

Mobile (Palm, iPhone, etc) software

Back to top

Command Line software

Back to top

Multi-platform software

Back to top

abc software packages

Note that to handle Postscript files (generated by several of these packages including abc2ps and its variants, and abc2mtex) you may need to install Ghostscript and GSView.

Software list (alphabetic order):-

• ABACUS
  ... is a shareware Windows program from Bryan Creer which edits, plays and prints abc.
• ABassC
  ... is a freeware viewer/player from Norman Schmidt which runs on Palm Handhelds and displays music in either treble or bass clef.
• abc2ly
  ... is a script shipped with LilyPond that converts from abc notation to LilyPond's (ly) format.
• abc2mtex
  ... is the original abc package for converting abc into sheet music. It is freeware and should in principle work on any platform (PC, Mac and UNIX). However, you will also need to install all (or at least a large part) of the TeX and MusicTeX packages. These too are freeware but may take considerable efforts to set up (although they are often available in educational establishments).
• ABC2NWC
  ... a shareware Windows program from Bryan Creer that converts abc to / from the Noteworthy Composer format.
• abc2prt
  ... from Guido Gonzato is a simple tool to extract parts from multivoice ABC music files.
• abc2ps
  ... is Michael Methfessel's package for converting abc into sheet music which avoids the need to install TeX and MusicTeX. A Mac version is now available!
• abc2score
  ... is a Windows freeware program from John Layton. It can handle large files with speed and includes many features such as transposition, tune searching, midi saving and appending.
• ABC2Tab
  ... is an abc to Mountain Dulcimer ASCII Tablature convertor from Lyle Melick. It is currently available as a Windows95 & WindowsNT command line program and PERL source code.
• abc2win
  ... is a package by Jim Vint which supports the entry of abc notation and viewing the musical notes on PCs. Tunes can also be played as a means of checking the accuracy of the transcription.

Back to top

• abc2xml
  ... is a web service which will convert abc notation into musicXML.
• abc4j
  ... is a java based API for abc. It provides a set of basic classes to easily manipulate abc tunes. In particular, the parser provides an object representation of abc notation on which developers can build their own high level features such as tune printing, midi playing, etc.
• Abc Converter
  ... is a web-based abc-to-staff converter from folkinfo.org which transposes/converts abc tunes to pdf and midi.
• ABCedit
  ... is a Windows interface to the abcm2ps and abc2midi programs (with a number of extra features) from Joop Coolegem. The program also uses Ghostscript and the installation script installs the whole package, making it an easy route to access some powerful abc software.
• ABCexplorer
  ... is a Windows program which allows you to create, edit, play and organise abc files.
• ABCJ
  ... is a pure Java abc player/editor from Steve Spencer-Jowett which should run on any platform with Java installed. There is also a web-based applet.
• abcjs
  ... is Gregory Dyke and Paul Rosen's javascript engine for rendering abcs on web pages. Can be used to transform a textarea into an abc editor, with scoresheet and audio, or as a plugin, rendering all the abc it finds on a page.
• abcm2ps
  ... is Jean-François Moine's clone of abc2ps which handles more than one voice per staff. Compiled versions for Windows, Mac & Linux may be found at the abcplus page.
• abcMIDI
  James Allwright's package to convert abc to MIDI and MIDI to abc. Since most standard music packages support MIDI output, this should make it easier to generate abc from commercial software. It is available on the web as C source code. It also contains abc2abc which can be used to transpose abc.
• abc-mode.el
  ... from Matt Junker is an emacs major mode for editing abc files designed for use with abcm2ps and abc2midi, but easily customisable for other packages.

Back to top

• abcmus
  Henrik Norbeck's abc player/tunebook manipulator for MSWindows with lots of nice features (search, automatic chordsetting, different import and export options, etc).
• ABCMusiEx
  (ABC Music Sight Reading Exercises Generator) ... is open source software from Rodolfo Alcazar Portillo aimed at creating sight reading exercises which you can read and practise while the audio parts are being played!
• AbcNavigator
  ... is a multi-featured program for handling abc files which can play tunes through your sound card, save them as MIDI files and which includes an abc editor with syntax highlighting.
• ABCp
  ... is an embeddable library for abc notation. Its aim is to take care of all the parsing details for code developers.
• abcpp
  ... from Guido Gonzato is a simple yet powerful preprocessor designed for, but not limited to, ABC music files. It provides conditional output, macros, symbol renaming, and file inclusion.
• abctab2ps
  ... is a program from Christoph Dalitz for typesetting music and lute/guitar tablature with abc. It is available for Mac, Windows & Linux platforms.
• abctool
  ... is a python script from Atte Andr? Jensen that manipulates abc files. It relies on external programs (such as abcm2ps) for certain tasks.
• abctransposer
  ... is a web-based javascript program from Jens Wollschläger that can transpose abc.
• AbcUtilities
  ... from Luis Pablo Gasparotto is a collection of packages for abc to abc processing, which can compress rests, reduce accidentals and extract parts.
• ABCViewer
  ... is an abc viewer from Dave Holland which runs on Palm Pilots.

Back to top

• BarFly
  Phil Taylor's Mac program for handling abc musical notation. It can play, check, transpose and display tunes in abc notation.
• Blue Notes
  ... is an iPhone app from Tino Heth that can import abc files into its database of songs. It currently focuses on harmonica players and can display tabs and lyrics. Transposing of tunes is supported.
• BowTIE
  ... is a Windows application from David Randolph designed to help trumpet and horn players learn to transpose which uses abc as its native file format. Euphonium and tuba players may also find BowTIE useful for learning fingerings on instruments in various keys.
• Busker
  ... is Windows shareware from Jos Mass which can play abc files and automatically add accompaniment based on the chords in the abc file. The abc files can also be printed in staff notation.
• Code Sounding
  ... is a bit unusual - using abc, it converts computer source code to sound files. For programmers who want to hear the "inner breath" of their software. From Roberto Mannai.
• convert-a-matic
  ... is a web-based abc-to-staff converter from Paul Schwartz which converts abc tunes to pdf and midi.
• Five Line Skink
  ... is a java application from Wil Macaulay which supports the abc 1.6 standard. It can open, edit, save, and display abc files (and runs on Unix & Linux platforms, as well as Windows & Mac).
• flabc
  ... is an abc editor from Christoph Dalitz based on the cross platform C++ GUI toolkit FLTK. It is available for Windows, MacOS X and Linux platforms.
• iPABC
  ... is an abc player/editor from Steve Spencer-Jowett which runs on the iPhone and iPod Touch.
• jaabc2ps
  ... is John Atchley's version of abcm2ps (including precompiled versions for Windows).

Back to top

• jcabc2ps
  ... is John Chambers' clone of abc2ps. It implements a number of extensions to handle the variants of abc that the abc tune finder finds on the web. These include several syntaxes for clefs, multiple voices, endings past the second, and non-classical key signatures.
• JedABC
  ... from Guido Gonzato is an extension to the Jed editor that turns it into a powerful and easy to use IDE (Integrated Development Environment) for ABC files, with full integration with converters, players and previewers.
• Melody Assistant
  ... is a full-scale shareware score editor that speaks abc. It can print, play and even create guitar tablature and runs on both PCs and Macs.
• microabc
  ... is free software from Hudson Lacerda which generates macros to represent microtonal music in ABC notation.
• ModPlug XMMS
  ... is abc plugin for XMMS under linux. Peter Grootswagers recommends libmodplug which can be obtained from the CVS tree.
• Muse
  ... is a full-scale shareware music editor from Laurie Griffiths that speaks abc. It can print, play, handle up to 8 harmony parts and even create guitar tablature and runs on PCs.
• MusiCAD
  ... is a fully featured score editor from Musys Software which can import and export abc. Although MusiCAD is not freeware, it's use with abc does not require payment.
• MusicEase
  ... is a full-featured Windows based editor which imports abc and SongWright files. Edits, transposes, prints and plays. Features include automatic conversion to tablature, automatic addition of chord fret diagrams, and general MIDI instrument support.
• PalmABC
  ... is an abc player/editor from Steve Spencer-Jowett which runs on Palm Pilots.
• playabc
  ... is a program by Don Ward which will play abc files through the speaker of most UNIX systems.

Back to top

• PlayQABC
  ... is a part of Jim Vint's abc2win package for PC users, but is also available for free as a standalone to play abc tunes on any PC/DOS system.
• PocketABC
  ... is an abc player/editor from Steve Spencer-Jowett which runs on Pocket PC 2002 devices such as the iPaq.
• Runabc.tcl
  ... is a Tcl/Tk GUI (graphical user interface) for abc2ps & abc2midi from Seymour Shlien which helps you manage a database of abc tunes. Requires Tcl/Tk 8.0 or higher.
• ScoreRender
  ... is a plugin, from Abel Cheung, for the popular blogging system WordPress, which renders sheet music fragments into images. It supports abc as well as several other notation systems.
• TablEdit
  ... is a Windows program for creating, editing, printing and listening to tablature and sheet music (standard notation) for guitar and other fretted, stringed instruments (including 5 string banjo) as well as harmonica, diatonic accordion, drums and violin. TablEdit can both read & write ascii, MIDI & abc files (and read Bucket O' Tab & Tabestry).
• TradTunes
  ... is an iPhone app that holds a database of over 4,000 (mainly) Irish Trad tunes.
• TuneBook
  ... is an iPhone app from Jerry Huxtable for viewing abc tunes in staff notation.
• TunePal
  ... is an abc player from Bryan Duggan which runs on many mobile devices and operating systems including the iPhone, Windows Mobile, Pocket PC & Psion. It is free, except for the iPhone.
• tunepal.org
  ... is a remarkable query-by-playing search engine which will transcribe sound into abc and then search for tunes that match.
• Virtual Composer
  ... is a score editor for the Mac from Ioannis Galidakis which exports abc (but does not read it).

Back to top

• YAPS
  (yet another abc to PostScript converter) ... is James Allwright's merge of the abcMIDI parser and the library of PostScript routines from abc2ps.