The advantage of abc is that it has made many tunes available to the 'amateur' musician.

Someone who wants to listen and practice tunes in the peace of their own home.

Someone who can learn tunes by ear

Someone who wants to learn the names and origins of the tunes they are learning.

In the course of running 'Folk on the Internet' workshops, I have introduced many people to abc and am constantly amazed at the amount of material on the net using this medium.

For example ............

An ABC Library of Morris Tunes

The Lewes Favourites

Tunes for 16 and 17th Century Broadside Ballads

Nigel Gatherer's ABC Collection

The Fiddler's Companion

Yet Another Digital Tradition Page

These are only a small sample of what is available but abc allows such resources to be available to all for very little cost.