How to Write Musical Notation in Obsidian

It also acts as a multi-purpose music generator and education tool. ABCjs library provides an almost effortless facility in creating, rendering, and playing sheet music directly from within an Obsidian vault. This little feature opens up ways that you can make use of Obsidian to pursue your musical interests.

Embrace Music Writing in Obsidian

It's something I decided to do a while back: get deeper into the theory of music, to get a better idea of what it is that I write. I was tired of only being able to write a song without some sort of structural basis for it, so, naturally, I've turned toward my Obsidian vault to document this learning path. But very soon it became clear that Obsidian is way more than some simple text notes.

I came across this gem of a plugin: the ABC Music Notation plugin. So, very opportune for budding musicians like me. Now, we can directly write sheet music in our vaults and play them. Not only do I get to see my musical works in a beautifully rendered sheet music format, but I can hear them played in real-time.

Install the ABC Music Notation Plugin

It's a simple process to install the ABC Music Notation plugin in Obsidian.

Open up Settings: The gear icon is at the bottom left corner of your Obsidian window.

On the left sidebar, go to "Community Plugins."

On the left sidebar, go to "Community Plugins."

Use the search bar to find "ABC Music Notation."

The plugin line has an "Install" button. When installed, press "Enable."

How to Use ABCjs in Obsidian

With a plug-in for ABC Music Notation, Obsidian will become a creative music center. It is relatively easy for someone who knows either ABC notation or ABCjs, although it might take a try or two until the syntax is right.

All you need to do is to open Obsidian and create a new note. Afterward, add the following code block:

I have set up this block for you to fill in your ABCjs-formatted music notation. The plugin will be able to visualize your composition into a sheet, and you can listen to it also.

Here it goes with some sample music:

Code block

X:1

T:Speed the Plough

C:Trad.

M:4/4

Q:1/4=120

K:G

|:GABc dedB|dedB dedB|c.

T: Title of the piece.

C: Composer.

M: Time signature.

Q: Tempo.

K: Key signature.

How the music notation works:

Letters: Notes. Capital letters for lower octaves, lower case for higher.

Numbers: Octaves.

Bars: Pipes (|) are used for bar lines.

Repeats: Colons (:) are used for repeated sections.

To preview and hear your composition click anywhere outside of this code block, the sheet music will be displayed and you can click on it to hear the music.

Keep in mind that ABCjs's offerings are very broad, so the ABC website is recommended for advanced users. With practice, you will be able to use most of the Obsidian features to turn your vault into a complete music studio.