I subscribe to the idea of learning tunes by ear, but I also like to find nice printable standard notation for tunes I like, so I can preserve them in a binder for reference purposes. Anybody else do that?
So far, the only sizeable archive I have found is at sessioneer.org, and even this does not seem a BIG collection to me. Are there some others I might try?
I suppose if I’m looking for a specific tune, I can just ask present company…
For instance, a tune over at clips & snips called the Killavel (sp?) Jig, submitted by Michael Eskin on a Bb whistle… anybody got notation?
Do you mean sessioneer or http://www.thesession.org/index.php ?
The latter site has a bunch of tunes plus most have comments from other musicians which are often helpful. It’s usually my first stop when looking for a tune. They offer both traditional and ABC notation, too.
I did that for a little while but then my $30 crap Walmart printer broke and I’ve been unable to ever since. So…when I find something I want, I email it to myself print off once I can lol. I have about 45 pages built up. :-/
I use JC’s Tunefinder a lot myself, but there are enough duplicate hits - since it’s a search engine rather than a respository - that I’ll often go to the Ceolas Fiddler’s Companion site:
which frequently (although not always) has what might be considered a pretty standard abc version of a tune. It’s also useful for alternate names and keys, sources both printed and recorded, associated lyrics, histories, that sort of thing.
Another good trustworthy site for abc files is Henrik Norbeck’s:
It’s one of the sites searched by John Chamber’s engine so using the Tunefinder will turn up its contents, but if you go straight there you may not have to wade through so many duplicates.
Another fun place to look over is the abc home page’s list of abc collections: