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This particular page was created 27/11/2003 and last updated 28/08/2004
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| | Irish banjo music can be notated in three different ways, standard notation, tablature and abc. Standard notation is by far the most common. Most of the music we play on the irish banjo was originally intended for the fiddle, and fiddle players don't fiddle around with tablature (pardon the pun). All the examples here at irish-banjo.com are in both standard notation adn tablature and you can often find ABC files for them as well, but if you're really serious about your playing, you ought to learn the basics of standard notation, since much of the music you'll want to play isn't available in tablature (this is especially true if you don't play an irish tuned tenor banjo). There are advantages and disadvantages to all three notation systems: | | Advantages | Disadvantages | | Standard notation | The "tadpoles" have been around since medieval times and is used for notating music for all kinds of instruments. | - Complete notation
- Music can be easily transfered between different instruments/tunings
- Not nearly as difficult as some people will make you believe
| - Tells you which note to play, but not where to play it on the fretboard
- Has a bad reputation because of music teachers throughout the history who have done their best to make it look far more complicated than it is
| | Tablature | Tablature is a special notation system for stringed instruments and is almost as old as standard notation. What we usually see today is a simplified tablature system without rhythm notation. | - Easy to learn
- Specially made for stringed instruments
| - Often incomplete notation without rhythm
- Instrument-specific. Tablature for one instrument can't be used for another - or even for the same instrument in a different tuning
- Encourages mindless copying rather than developing musical skills and personal style
| | ABC | ABC is a recent, text-based, notation system. It's mainly used by computers (and converted into either standard notation or tablature for humans to read). | - Can be easily converted into standard notation or tablature (free and inexpensive convertion programs are available for most any computer)
- Limited notation - many features aren't supported by ABC
| - Not really readable by humans on its own - needs to be converted
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