ABC Recorder Fingering Player Instructions
Overview
Load, type, or paste ABC tunes and play them with synchronized standard notation and an optional recorder tablature display.
The Recorder Fingering pane shows the current tune title and, during playback, a large fingering diagram for the note being played with its note name to the right.
Use Notation display to choose standard notation alone or standard notation with recorder tablature. The default is Notation + Recorder Tab.
Opening and Selecting Tunes
Type or paste a single tune into the ABC editor, open an .abc or .txt file containing one or more tunes, or send tunes directly from ABC Transcription Tools.
For multi-tune files, use the Tune menu to select the tune to display and play. Edits are retained when changing tunes.
The ABC editor intentionally accepts only one pasted tune at a time; multi-tune collections should be opened as a file or transferred from ABC Transcription Tools.
ABC Editing and Notation
The upper-left panel contains editable ABC. The lower-left panel shows abcjs notation and playback controls. The Notation display selector chooses whether recorder tablature is also shown.
Editing the ABC rebuilds the notation and audio. When recorder tablature is enabled it is rebuilt at the same time. Click a rendered note to select its corresponding ABC text.
The Small / Medium / Large / Largest selector changes the ABC editor text size and remembers the choice in this browser.
Recorder Fingering Display
The display uses the selected Baroque or German recorder fingering. The note name appears to the right of the fingering symbol.
Check Show note to also show the current pitch as a quarter note on a staff just below the note name. The Show note setting is remembered in this browser and is not included in share links.
Note names are displayed using sharps or flats according to the tune's K: key and mode. When Show note is enabled, the notation below the note name uses the same sharp or flat naming.
Use the Recorder selector to choose Soprano or Alto recorder with Baroque or German fingering. The standard Soprano fingering chart starts at C4 and the standard Alto chart starts at F4. Notes below those ranges, or otherwise without an available fingering, are shown as x.
Note names use the following octave style: C2–B2 use two commas, C3–B3 use one comma, C4–B4 have no octave mark, C5–B5 use one ' mark, and C6–B6 use two ' marks.
The Notation display and Recorder choices are remembered in this browser and are also included in generated share links.
Playback and Tempo
As each melody note plays, the notation cursor follows the tune and the Recorder Fingering pane updates to that note.
Playback uses MIDI program 144 for Soprano Recorder or MIDI program 145 for Alto Recorder, and program 0 for bass and chords, overriding matching playback directives in the source ABC.
Check Metronome to add a meter-appropriate metronome click during playback. Changing this setting stops and rewinds the current tune. The metronome setting is remembered in this browser but is not included in share links.
Check Count in? to show a five-second countdown before playback starts when you click Play while playback is stopped.
The Count in setting is remembered in this browser.
Click Mute Melody in the Notation header to mute the recorder melody. This is available for every tune, including tunes without chord symbols, so you can practice with the metronome alone. If the tune contains chord symbols, chord and bass accompaniment remain audible.
Toggling Mute Melody or Unmute Melody stops and rewinds the tune. If it was playing, playback restarts from the beginning after the five-second count-in when Count in? is enabled, or immediately when Count in is disabled. If the tune was stopped, it remains stopped.
The button changes to Unmute Melody; click it again to restore the recorder melody.
The melody always starts unmuted when the tool is opened, and the mute setting resets to unmuted any time you change tunes or load a new tune collection.
Click Tempo in the Notation header to set playback tempo from 10% to 200% of the tune's original tempo. The value is remembered in this browser.
You can also click the tempo percentage box on the playback control bar:
Resizing and Full-Page View
On wide screens, drag the vertical divider to resize the left and recorder-fingering panes, and drag the horizontal divider to resize the ABC and notation panes. Double-click a divider to reset it.
Click Full-Page View on the ABC, Notation, or Recorder Fingering pane to expand it to the full browser window. Click Exit Full-Page to return to the normal pane view.
Saving and Sharing
Click Save to save the complete currently loaded tune collection, including edits. On mobile devices the saved file uses a .txt extension.
Click Share Tune for the current tune or Share All Tunes for the complete loaded collection. The compressed ABC is copied in a share URL.
When ABC arrives through a share link or direct transfer, click Click to Enable Playback if the browser requires a user gesture before audio can start.
About
This tool was created by Michael Eskin
If you find it useful, please consider a contribution via
Michael Eskin's Tip Jars