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A detailed description of the structure within .abc files:
Fields:
A: author
B: book
C: composer
D: discography
H: history
I: instruction
K: key. including indications of mode (Dor, Mix, etc.)
L: unit note length
M: meter
N: notes
O: origin
Q: tempo
S: source
T: title
w: words (as lyrics aligned with melody)
X: reference number
Z: transcriber
Recognized notation:
Notes both undotted and dotted, from whole to 64ths. You need to look at the whole ABC standard to understand how rhythms work, but basically you have a default note value that is left alone or multiplied by a following digit and/or divided by a / with optional digit. Or if a note is followed by a > that's shorthand for a long-short dotted note pair. Example: C>B. Octaves are indicated by commas to lower, apostrophes to raise: (A,B,C,D,E,F,G,ABCDEFGabcdefga'b'c'd'e'f'g)
Rests (both z for ordinary rests and Z for a multiple-measure rest).
Triplets and other irregular groupings. For example a triplet on the notes c,d,e is (3cde .
Accidentals (sharps, flat, naturals, double sharps, double flats). (Symbols precede the note name: =D for D natural, ^D for D sharp, _D for D flat, also ^^ and __).
Staccato (note name preceded by a period, as in .D
Ties. Note name is followed by a hyphen, D-D.
Beam groups (beamed groups are set off by spaces in abc)
Barlines, including repeat bars, for example |, |], :|, |:, :|:, ::, etc.
First and second endings. Marked by a 1 or 2 following a barline, as in |2 cdef |:
Fermatas (notated as !fermata! or +fermata+ before a note or rest).
Chord symbols (notated as, for example, "Gmin". Songworks also performs these with appropriate tones).
Chords and intervals (notes on a single stem set off by a bracket, for example [ceg].
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