International standard abbreviation for instruments needed

[violinconcerto]

Hello!

I am looking for a list of abbreviations of instruments (violin= vln, etc). I found a lot of sites, but they all shorten the instruments different (violin is sometimes vl or vn or vln or v). I expected that there is an international standard list how to shorten the instruments or am I wrong? If no international norm is existing, is there at least a norm for the English-speaking countries?

best,
Tobias

[mbhaub]

There are a lot of variants in English. But the basics go:

picc - piccolo
fl - flute
ob - oboe
eng horn - english horn
cl - clarinet
bs cl - bass clarinet
bsn - bassoon (or bssn)
contra - contrabassoon

tpt - trumpet
cor - cornet
hn - "french" horn
tbn - trombone
tuba - no abbr.

bd - bass drum
cym - cymbal
sus (cym) - suspended cymbal
glock - glockenspiel
timp - timpani

vln - violin
vla - viola
vlc - cello and frequently not abbreviated
bass - contrabass

Harp - no abbr
Xylo -xylophone

There are of course many different abbreviations depending on composer, arranger, publisher, etc. that I've seen in scores over years of score reading.  Add in other languages and it gets mind boggling and confusing.

[Delicious Manager]

There are a lot of variants in English. But the basics go:

picc - piccolo
fl - flute
ob - oboe
eng horn - english horn
cl - clarinet
bs cl - bass clarinet
bsn - bassoon (or bssn)
contra - contrabassoon

tpt - trumpet
cor - cornet
hn - "french" horn
tbn - trombone
tuba - no abbr.

bd - bass drum
cym - cymbal
sus (cym) - suspended cymbal
glock - glockenspiel
timp - timpani

vln - violin
vla - viola
vlc - cello and frequently not abbreviated
bass - contrabass

Harp - no abbr
Xylo -xylophone

There are of course many different abbreviations depending on composer, arranger, publisher, etc. that I've seen in scores over years of score reading.  Add in other languages and it gets mind boggling and confusing.

Of course, outside of the USA, you won't see 'English horn' used, but 'cor anglais', usually abbreviated as 'ca'.

Contrabassoon is commonly abbreviated as 'cbn' or 'cbsn'
I have seen abbreviations for tuba ('tb' and 'tba')
I have also seen the abbreviations 'db' and 'cb' for doubles basses (contrabasses)
Tri - Triangle

[mbhaub]

In Great Britain, the US/Europe contrabassoon is often referred to as Double Bassoon (Elgar, Holst, etc). That is "dbn".
Also, add pna or pno for piano.
Snare drum is usually sd.
Tambourine is tamb.
Use wb for woodblock.
Bass trombone and alto trombone are different, but usually not spelled out so much as by staves: 1 & 2 on one and bass on the other.
Organ is just organ?

[violinconcerto]

Thanks a lot for the information!
I am really puzzled that it really looks like there is no international standard. I thought I was just to dumb to find the correct website... Now I will maybe create my own abbreviations 

Thanks a lot for your help!
Best,
Tobias

[albion]

You thought you'd looked at the score carefully, but as the rehearsal gets underway you discover that you'd forgotten to book the  ...

acc:accordion
ac-bg:acoustic bass guitar
ac-g:acoustic guitar
alp:alphorn [alpenhorn]
acl:alto clarinet [Eb]
afl:alto flute
ahn:alto horn (peck horn)
arec:alto recorder
as:alto saxophone
atb:alto trombone
an-syn:analogue synthesizer
back-voc:background vocals
bag:bagpipes
bal:balafon
bmb-fl:bamboo flute   
bnd:bandoneon
bjo:banjo
ban-hn: banshee horn
ban-fl:bansuri flute
bar-hn: baritone horn
bars:baritone saxophone
bfl:bass flute
b-g:bass guitar
bhar:bass harmonica
bmba:bass marimba
brec:bass recorder
bsx:bass saxophone
btpt:bass trumpet
bst-hn:Bassett horn [F alto clarinet]
bgo:bongos
Cm-sx:C-melody sax
clst:celesta
chit:chitarrone
chm:chimes
Ch-mus:Chinese musette [snake charmers horn]
clv:clavinet
cshl:conch shells
cga:congas
cbsx:contrabass saxophone ("tubax")
cb-tb:contrabass trombone
crot:crotales
cwb:cowbell
cym:cymbals
dbk:darbouka
dgdo:didgeridoo
djm:djembe
dngi:doussn'gouni [Hunter's Guitar; African hunter's harp]
dmb:dumbek
el-b:electric bass
el-g:electric guitar
el-org:electric organ
el-p:electric piano
elec:electronics
flgt:flageolet
flgn:flügelhorn
fr-d:frame drum
fr-flgt:French flageolet
hmca:harmonica
hrm:harmonium
kal:kalimba
kaz:kazoo
key:keyboards
mda:mandola
mdln:mandolin
mnz:manzello
mba:marimba
mlp:mellophone
mlpm:mellophonium
mel:melodica
m-org:mouth organ
mus:musette
nar:narrator
nay:nay [Arabian flute]
ob:oboe
oc:ocarina
pfl:pan flute
pw:penny whistle
perc:percussion
p-cor:pocket cornet
p-tpt   :pocket trumpet
prep-p:prepared piano
rab:rabab
rec:recorder
srn:sarangi
srph:sarrusophone
saw:saw / musical saw
sxl:saxello
shk-fl:shakuhachi flute
shm:shawm
shl:shells
shn:shenai
sit:sitar
sl-g:slide guitar
sl-sx:slide saxophone
sl-tpt:slide trumpet
sl-w:slide whistle
sn-d:snare drum
sscl:sopranino clarinet [Eb]
sss:sopranino saxophone
scl:soprano clarinet [Bb / A / C]
ssph:sousaphone
st-d:steel drums
st-g:steel guitar
stc:stritch
syn:synthesizer
tbl:tablas
talk-d:talking drum
tmb:tamboura
trgt:tarogato [taragot]
trec:tenor recorder
thrm:theremin
tim:timbales
tr-d:trap drums
ttbl:turntables
uke:ukelele
vtb:valve trombone
vib:vibraphone
vle:violone
whs:whistles
zth:zither

[Delicious Manager]

Thanks a lot for the information!
I am really puzzled that it really looks like there is no international standard.

There won't be an 'international standard' while there are hundreds of languages in use around the world. Words for instruments vary from language to language (sometimes confusingly: 'timbales' is French for 'timpani', but are completely different from Latin-American timbales; a 'tambourin' (French again, no 'e' at the end) is a type of drum, while a 'tambourine' is a... well, a tambourine) and each language has its own convention for abbreviations (eg 'hb' in French is short for 'hautbois' - oboe; 'Pos' in German is short for 'Posaune' - trombone).

And so it goes on (and on and on...).

[Delicious Manager]

In Great Britain, the US/Europe contrabassoon is often referred to as Double Bassoon (Elgar, Holst, etc). That is "dbn".

No-one calls a contrabassoon a 'double bassoon' in the UK anymore (at least I haven't heard them do so in about 20 years). Elgar and Holst might have done, but that was 100 years ago.

[eschiss1]

Ah for composers who introduce instruments into the manuscript halfway through and copyists and publishers who don't remember to include these into the list of instruments in the inside-front-page or what have you...- yep.
(Even without knowing much about the zither I have been intrigued to learn more about it just because - (1) it was rare to find an issue of "Hofmeisters Monatsberichte" between 1829 and 1900 without several works recently published arranged or composed for zither solo, ensemble, or with other instruments, listed in it- it had its own section -- for an instrument that has near as I can tell all but disappeared, that's a _big_ drop...) -
and from the scans at the Library of Congress and http://zither.us there was some popularity perhaps in the US too in the 19th century (and some scans of Zither works can be found at that last site, along with bios of American zither performers and composers. A few works for the instrument are at German and Austrian library scan sites too... but in general- really- again- possibly because of the guitar's resurgence (but the dates seem wrong...) (but I don't know; I have not heard a zither and don't know what the similarities and differences are and aren't- I speak outside my expertise...- I don't know the reason, I am ignorant) - hrm. Again- a precipitous drop for a popular instrument, if I am not mistaken...

[Gareth Vaughan]

The usual abbreviation for bass clarinet is bcl. I've never seen bs cl used. Tenor and alto trombone parts are normally written in the tenor clef (for both) or the tenor for one and the alto for the other.
Let us not forget the basset horn (bshn) and, as employed by Mr Holbrooke in "Queen Mab", the dulcimer (cemb.)

[violinconcerto]

There won't be an 'international standard' while there are hundreds of languages in use around the world. Words for instruments vary from language to language (sometimes confusingly: 'timbales' is French for 'timpani', but are completely different from Latin-American timbales; a 'tambourin' (French again, no 'e' at the end) is a type of drum, while a 'tambourine' is a... well, a tambourine) and each language has its own convention for abbreviations (eg 'hb' in French is short for 'hautbois' - oboe; 'Pos' in German is short for 'Posaune' - trombone).

And so it goes on (and on and on...).

Well, in chemistry there are different "common" names for compounds but an international nomenclature out of abbreviations and rules of combining them to get a "name" that is the same all over the world and can be read by anyone (who knows the nomenclature).
So its possible to get an international standard.

Best,
Tobias

[Gareth Vaughan]

Yes, Tobias - but chemists are not like musicians!!!

[eschiss1]

Here I unfortunately am inclined to concur. The Lilypond manual and program get fairly complicated (and big) and complex (both) in part because their developers seem to try to encompass so much of music, it seems to me (from early on, it's been possible to notate both Romantic, Modern and the mensural music of an earlier era (ca.1300-1600) with it. Possible, anyway ) And when you look at orchestration manuals of earlier days and consider how many instruments now obsolete hung on until fairly recently, and the on and off or very briefly on history of others (serpent, harpsichord, viola d'amore, violotta and viola alta, ...) - a list of instrument abbreviations meant to be both standard and comprehensive (and what else should one seek?) would be lengthy (and I seem to be just considering "Western music" in some odd, hard to define sense. Expand from that outwards, as one must since it's hard to define where it begins and ends anyway especially in the 20th century with "Western" composers (Lou Harrison? others?) using non-Western instruments and musics and also vice-versa and both combining ... etc. etc. etc. (Yun Isang is coming to mind??..., as are others...) ... and...)

[violinconcerto]

OK, got the point.