A comprehensive, printable reference guide for musical notation that renders high-quality sheet music directly from ABC notation. This project provides a clean, distraction-free interface for musicians and music students to access essential music theory information.
- Complete Music Theory Reference: Covers note lengths, ranges, mnemonics, key signatures, and intervals
- High-Quality Rendering: Uses the ABCJS library to render professional sheet music
- Accessible: Keyboard navigation and screen reader support
- Responsive: Works on desktop, tablet, and mobile devices
- Auto-Updating: Changes to the ABC file automatically update the rendered music
The cheat sheet includes:
- Note Lengths: From sixteenth notes to whole notes with corresponding rests
- Note Ranges: Complete range from C-1 to C10 with octave notation
- Treble and Bass Clef Notes: All natural notes with proper positioning
- Memory Aids: Traditional mnemonics for both clefs
- Treble: "Every Good Boy Does Fine" and "FACE"
- Bass: "Good Boys Do Fine Always" and "All Cows Eat Grass"
- Key Signatures: All major and relative minor keys with chord symbols
- Intervals: Perfect, major, and minor intervals from unison to double octave
Simply open https://dmlogv.github.io/musical-notation-cheat-sheet in any modern web browser. The page will automatically load and render the musical notation.
- Open the page in your browser
- Press
Ctrl+P(orCmd+Pon Mac) to open the print dialog - The page is optimized for A4 portrait printing with clean margins
musical-notation-cheat-sheet/
├── index.html # Main web page
├── script.js # JavaScript for rendering
├── styles.css # Styling and print styles
├── musical-notation-cheat-sheet.abc # ABC notation source file
README.md # This file
- ABCJS 6.2.3: JavaScript library for rendering ABC notation
- Vanilla HTML/CSS/JavaScript: No frameworks or build tools required
- ABC Notation: Standard text-based music notation format
- Chrome 60+
- Firefox 55+
- Safari 12+
- Edge 79+
The project uses ABC notation, a text-based format for representing musical notation. The source file musical-notation-cheat-sheet.abc contains:
- Multiple sections with different musical concepts
- Both treble and bass clef examples
- Chord symbols and lyrics for mnemonics
- Proper formatting for print layout
To modify the cheat sheet:
- Edit
musical-notation-cheat-sheet.abc - Refresh the browser to see changes
- No HTML modifications required
- Modify
styles.cssto change colors, fonts, or layout - Print styles are in the
@media printsection - The page uses a clean, minimal design optimized for readability
- Add new sections to the ABC file following the existing format
- Use ABC notation syntax for musical elements
- Include lyrics (
w:) for text labels and mnemonics
- Clone the repository
- Open
index.htmlin a web browser - Make changes to the ABC file and refresh to see updates
The project is designed for static hosting:
- GitHub Pages
- Netlify
- Any static file server
No build process or server-side code required.
The page is specifically optimized for printing:
- A4 portrait orientation
- Clean margins (1.5cm)
- Professional sheet music layout
- No UI elements in print output
- Proper page break handling
Contributions are welcome! Areas for improvement:
- Additional music theory concepts
- More mnemonic variations
- Enhanced accessibility features
- Additional language support
This project is open source. Feel free to use, modify, and distribute as needed.
ABC notation is a text-based format for representing musical notation. It's human-readable and widely supported by music software. The format is particularly useful for:
- Quick music transcription
- Educational materials
- Sharing music notation
- Creating reference materials
For more information about ABC notation, visit abcnotation.com.
Perfect for music students, teachers, composers, and anyone who needs a quick reference for musical notation!