Thanks but a search gave me this info and I am confused:

That's a very common misconception about ABC notation. It's actually a very much alive and actively used format, especially within certain music communities.

ABC notation is far from obsolete. In fact, its simplicity and text-based nature are its greatest strengths and the reason it continues to thrive.

Here's why:

It's a "lingua franca" for traditional music: ABC is the de facto standard for transcribing and sharing folk, traditional, and Celtic tunes online. Websites like The Session and hundreds of other tune archives are built on it. It allows musicians to share a tune via a simple copy-and-paste, which is much faster than creating and sharing an image file or a MIDI file.

It is not just a text file; it can be played: While the file you provided is just plain text, there are many modern software applications and online tools that can read ABC files, render them as sheet music, and play them back as an audio file (usually a MIDI or WAV). These "players" and editors are abundant and free.

Online Editors and Players: There are many browser-based ABC players and editors. You can simply paste your ABC text into a website, and it will instantly display the sheet music and allow you to play the tune. This is a great way to check for errors or hear what the music sounds like.

Dedicated Desktop Software: Many free and commercial programs exist for all operating systems (Windows, Mac, Linux) that allow you to manage large collections of tunes, edit them, and export them to other formats like PDF, MIDI, or MusicXML.

Integration with Other Software: Programs like LilyPond and MuseScore can import ABC files and convert them into high-quality, professional-looking sheet music. This makes ABC an excellent format for drafting tunes before doing final formatting.

Evolving Standard: The ABC standard is not static. It continues to be developed to handle more complex musical concepts like multi-voice music and advanced formatting, all while maintaining its core simplicity.

So, to answer your questions directly:

Is it an obsolete format? No, it is a very active, niche format for certain musical communities and is used as an interchange format for more complex music software.

Is there a player? Yes, there are many players, editors, and converters. You can easily find them by searching online for "ABC notation player," "ABC converter," or "ABC editor." You would simply copy the text from your file and paste it into one of these tools.