John Layton's ABC Big List
A collection of traditional dance tunes from
Britain, Ireland and many other countries
ABC notation, devised by Chris Walshaw, is a simple but effective musical notation format. It is text based and does not require expensive software for conversion into standard musical score.
Visit the ABC Homepage for full details about the notation and all the software available.
Over the last year or so I have been assiduously collecting all the ABC files available for free download on the net and now have in my collection in excess of 15,000 tunes which I have arranged in one big list. This file, which includes the entire Nottingham Database as well as countless other collections can be downloaded below in zip format.
In order to use the file effectively you will also need to download ABC Tools a program which has an excellent search facility as well as many other useful features. ABC2Win , a program which will convert abc into standard musical notation is likewise essential. You might also consider downloading ABCMidifier which will arrange the Big List into alphabetical order and convert a tune into a midi file. Finally, Seymour Shlien's freeware program RUNABC , designed specifically to handle a large database of ABC tunes is highly recommended.
Another useful piece of free software is The Bagpipe Player. There are thousands and thousands of Scottish and Irish dance tunes in the Bagpipe Player format to add to your private database all of them freeware. If you would like to download my collection of Bagpipe Player tunes click on the link to the left. There are over 4,000 tunes in the Zip file and also included is a freeware Tune Finder program.
If you have any comments send me an email
Copyright (c) John Layton 2005