Title: Title is pretty straightforward. Just type it in!

When the title includes an initial article, it may be moved to the end of the title, following a comma to facilitate alphabetization.
T:The Road to Lisdoonvarna
   or
T:Road to Lisdoonvarna, The
   will display as:
The Road to Lisdoonvarna

However, some conversion programs will move any words preceding a comma to the end of the title:
T:Sunrise, Sunset
   will display as:
Sunset, Sunrise
Using a back slash will resolve this problem:
T:Sunrise,\ Sunset

The title field is repeatable, which is helpful when a tune has more than one name. The first use of the field will generate the title as usual; the second will generate the alternative title in smaller print.

Meter: is entered
as a fraction: 6/8 3/4 2/2 2/4 4/4
or in letter form: C C| (cut time)

Length: the default note length is set automatically by the meter field, but it can be changed. Generally speaking, chose the note length that occurs most frequently in the tune being transcribed:
1/2 = half note
1/4 = quarter note
1/8 = eighth note
1/16 = sixteenth note

Key: use upper case letter to indicate key. To indicate mode:

Other header elements are optional:
Other fields, such as historical notes, rhythm, source, etc., are optional.
C:Composer
D:discography
H:history
N:Notes
O:origin
P:parts (used in the header to indicate the order in which the parts of the tune are played; e.g., P:ABAC, P:A, P:B)
Q:tempo (e.g., Q:200, Q:C2=200)
R:rhythm (e.g., R:R, R:reel)
S:source (e.g., S:collected in Brittany)
Z:transcription note

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The Body
notes | note lengths | accidentals | bar lines, etc. | multiple staves | formatting | fonts

Notes are entered using letters (thus the name "ABC notation"). The pitch is determined by the letter itself and the octave by case and punctuation.

Notes below middle C are upper case followed by a comma (G, A, B,)
Notes between middle C to the next B (3rd line of the staff) are upper case (C D E F G A B)
Notes from C in 3rd space of the staff to the next B (2nd space above the staff) are lower case (c d e f g a b)
Notes from C in 2nd line above the staff to the next B are lower case followed by an apostrophe (c' d' e' f' g')

G, A, B,		C D E F G A B
c d e f g a b		c' d' e' f' g'
Put together:

The duration of any given note is indicated by a number immediately following the letter representing the note.

The number used is determined by the meter as well as the predominant length of the notes in the piece that is being notated.

In a piece with mostly half notes in 4/4 time, the default length would be 1/2 note, and indicated in the "L:" field in the header.
In a piece with mostly quarter notes in 4/4 time, the default length could be 1/8 ("L:1/8"). To indicate an eighth note (half the length of a quarter note), a "/" would immediately follow the name of the note. To indicate a half note (twice the length of a quarter note), a "2" would immediately follow the name of the note.

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Bar lines, section ends, etc., are entered using a combination of the | and ] keys, using the colon to indicate repeats.

|   |]   ||   [|   :|   |:   :: will display as:

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Rests use the letter "z" followed by a number to indicate length.

This coding:
X:1
T:Rests
M:C
L:1/4
K:C
z4|z2z2|zzzz|
generates this:


It is possible to make the rest invisible by using "x" instead 'f "z".
This coding:
X:1
T:Invisible Rests Using X
M:C
L:1/4
K:C
z4|x4|z4|x4|z4|x4|
generates this:


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More advanced coding (do not attempt this at home until you feel proficient in ABC):

Multiple staves (see also voices)

For a two-staff work, precede each line with the voice number, e.g., [V:1], [V:2]:

X:1 T:Bottom of the Punchbowl C:harmony by M. Koth M:C| L:1/8 K:D [V:1]|:FE|"D"D2A2d3c|d2A2 FGAF|"Em"E2 e2 efgf|"A"edcB AGFE| [V:2]|:FE|D2F2A3e|f2d2 AGFA|B2e2 gfef|gfed cBAG| [V:1]"D"D2 A2 d3 (e|fe)dc d3 (A|"G"Bc)d(B "A"AB)AG|"D"F2 D2 D2:| [V:2]A2d2 f3 (e|fg)fe f3 (A|dc)B(d ed)cB|A2F2D2:|

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Advanced coding:

Format the music and page:
These "pseudocomments" are used to fine tune the page layout for creating a PDF.
%%topmargin
%%botmargin
%%landscape = landscape, rather than portrait, orientation
%%staffwidth = width of staff
%%indent = amount to indent the first staff (done at the start of the piece and after a T: field)
%%titlespace = vertical space before the title
%%gchordspace = space between staff and guitar chords
%%scale = size of musical symbols
%%staffsep = space between staves
%%sysstaffsep = separation between staves within one system in multi stave music
%%systemsep = separation between systems in multi stave music
%%stretchstaff = stretches underfull staves across page
%%stretchlast = stretches last staff if underfull
%%newpage = forces a new page

Examples:
%%topmargin .5cm
%%botmargin .5cm
%%staffwidth 7.0in
%%stretchlast
%%titlespace .25cm
%%partsspace .1cm
%%scale .75
%%staffsep 35pt
%%sysstaffsep 35pt
%%systemsep 35pt

Fonts
A list of postscript fonts that work with ABC is found here.
The font may be specified in the following areas:
%%titlefont (T:)
%%subtitlefont (T:)
%%composerfont (C:)
%%partsfont (P:) a box can be put around the name of the part "box"
%%tempofont (Q:)
%%vocalfont (w: ) = for lyrics or vocals under a staff
%%gchordfont for the guitar chords
%%textfont = for any text (use the pseudocomment %%text)
%%wordsfont (W: ) = for words under the tune
%%voicefont (V: ) = for voice names in multiple staves
%%barnumberfont
%%barlabelfont
%%indexfont

Examples:
%%titlefont Helvetica-Italic 12
%%subtitlefont Helvetica-Bold 14
%%gchordfont Helvetica-Bold 16
%%textfont Helvetica-Italic 10
%%partsfont Helvetica-Bold 14 box

Adding text annotations above or below the staff or preceding or following a note, rest, or bar line:
^ will place the text above the note, rest, or bar line
_ [underscore] will place the text below note, rest, or bar line
"^[text]" puts text immediately above the note, above the staff
"_[text]" puts text immediately below the note, below the staff
"<[text]" puts text immediately before the note, in the space line or space as the note
">[text]" puts text immediately after the note, in the space line or space as the note

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Displaying and printing music from ABC notation

To convert ABC coding into printable staff notation, go to one of these websites:
ABC entry and conversion
Michael Eskin's ABC transcription tools
ABC player and editor (no pdf generator but you can start the midi from a specific note)
ABC converter (from Colin Hume; can generate a PDF when you click on the print button)

Jens Wollschläger's ABC transposer (does not display or print a tune, but the ABC coding will be transposed; chords in quotation marks will also be changed, including their case and may need to be changed back to upper case)
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ABC documentation and tutorials

ABC quick reference card (PDF, 2 pages)
abctab2ps user's guide: internet archive version or 2011 PDF version
Peter Yarensky's abc 2.2 Help File
abc:standard:v2.0
ABC documents by John Chambers:
   An introduction to ABC music notation
   An ABC primer
How to interpret ABC music notation by Steve Mansfield
List of ABC tutorials
ABC music project
The ABC notation system by Chris Walshaw
The ABC Plus Project maintained by Guido Gonzato