That's All Folks
February 5, 2013 1:59 AM   Subscribe

folkinfo.org is a database of English-language folk songs. Each song is listed with its respective lyrics, sheet music, Roud Index number, midi file, and historical information. The database also provides song information in abc notation. Placed into an abc converter, one can generate sheet music in a variety of forms and scales.
posted by lemuring (17 comments total) 63 users marked this as a favorite
 
thank you !

at the end of that wonderful movie Distant Voices - Still Lives this song, sung by Peter Pears still moves me profoundly.
good stuff.
posted by Substrata at 3:31 AM on February 5, 2013


Thanks for this post!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:42 AM on February 5, 2013


Those with an interest in English folk music should check out the English Folk Dance and Song Society. They have a wonderful library in London that I had the pleasure of using many years ago and some of their collection is online.

They also run classes and concerts.
posted by brookeb at 5:29 AM on February 5, 2013


Oh! Mrs A. has just taken up the piano again and this'll b a great source of sheet music.
posted by arcticseal at 5:36 AM on February 5, 2013


Thank you.
posted by swift at 5:55 AM on February 5, 2013


Oh, nice. LOTRO uses a modified ABC format for player instruments. This could be fun.
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:24 AM on February 5, 2013


Very cool.

I'd never heard of abc notation and abc converters. I'm having no luck googling for a converter similar to the one linked but for ukulele. Is there a clearinghouse of converters for different instruments somewhere on the Web?

If not, I'll just learn mandolin and teach my kids ocarina.
posted by etc. at 6:37 AM on February 5, 2013


Man, I can never remember the fingering for a z3 chord...what voicing do y'all use?

Regardless, this is awesome and one of the things I love about the Internet: people sharing heaping wadges of specialized info with the world.
posted by smirkette at 7:32 AM on February 5, 2013


the long list of abc-capable software here might have some leads.
posted by mwhybark at 7:34 AM on February 5, 2013


here, etc. not abc2uke but instead guitar tab to uke tab.
posted by mwhybark at 7:43 AM on February 5, 2013


Fantastic resource. I know a lot of people who will find this useful.
posted by immlass at 8:04 AM on February 5, 2013


I looked up the songs in Percy Grainger's Lincolnshire Posy. He modified "Lisbon" and "Lord Melbourne" significantly, but kept the melody of "The Lost Lady Found".

It's great to see lyrics and (original?) melodies to some of these songs. (I couldn't find "Horkstow Grange", "Rufford Park Poachers", or "The Brisk Young Sailor".)

(Slight derail: two movements of "Lincolnshire Posy" were omitted at its premiere because they were too difficult for the performing band.)
posted by kurumi at 8:19 AM on February 5, 2013 [1 favorite]


Man, I can never remember the fingering for a z3 chord

Don't do anything with any of your fingers, that's the fingering.
posted by Now there are two. There are two _______. at 9:08 AM on February 5, 2013


Also check out JC's ABC Tune Finder! It aggregates results from many of ABC enabled sites. Thesession.org is another one coming to mind (but no ABC).

I like how the folkinfo.com pages for tunes have discussions. One of them just made me stumble across The Levy Sheet Music Collection. I'm going down a rabbit hole of millions of tunes... this post is awesome!
posted by yoHighness at 9:19 AM on February 5, 2013


This is everything I've ever wanted, thank you.
posted by six-or-six-thirty at 10:32 AM on February 5, 2013


bounce bounce bounce eeeeeeeeeeeeee
posted by Pallas Athena at 10:48 AM on February 5, 2013


If you like this you should also check out Farne - Folk Archive Resource North East.
posted by unliteral at 8:39 PM on February 5, 2013


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