There are several schemes for listing instrumentation; our playlists employ the fairly common set of abbreviations long used by G. Schirmer Inc.

Since Schirmer’s site has now gone bloatsville, here’s the list of abbreviations as it appeared back when the site was sane. (Our own additions are starred.)

A, a      Alto (voice), alto (prefix)
acn       accordion
acc       accompanied, accompaniment
acl       alto clarinet
afl       alto flute
amp       amplified
arr       arranged, arranger
asx       alto saxophone

B, b      Bass (voice), bass (instrument), born
bandurria bandurria
Bar, bar  Baritone (voice), baritone (instrument)
barsx     baritone saxophone
bcl       bass clarinet
bgtr      bass guitar
bjo       banjo
bn        bassoon
br        brass
btbn      bass trombone
bthn      basset horn

C, c      Contralto (voice), contra (prefix)
ca        circa, cor anglais, English horn
cbcl      contrabass clarinet
cbn       contrabassoon
cel       celesta
cga       conga
ch        chamber
chm       chimes
chor      chorus or choir (SATB unless otherwise noted)
cimb      cimbalom
cl        clarinet
col       coloratura
conc      concertante
cong      congregation (audience)
cont      continuo
cnt       cornet
cond      conductor
Ct        Countertenor
Ctpt      trumpet in C
cym       cymbals

d         descant or double (prefix)
db        doublebass
Dbpicc    piccolo in D-flat
div       divisi, divided
dm        drum
dmkit     drum kit, trap set
dms       drums, trap set
drec      descant recorder

Ebcl      clarinet in E-flat
Ebtpt     trumpet in E-flat
e         electric
eb        electric bass
egtr      electric guitar
epf       electric piano
etronics    electronics
ed        editor, edited
edn       edition
ens       ensemble
euph      euphonium
eve       evening
evn       electric violin

fl        flute
flg       flugelhorn

glock     glockenspiel
gtr       guitar

heck      heckelphone
hca       harmonica
hmn       harmonium
hn        horn
Horg      Hammond organ
hp        harp
hpd       harpsichord

inst      instrument(s), instrumentation

kbd       keyboard

lu        lute

man       mandolin
mba       marimba
med       medium
met       metallophone
min       minimum
mrc       maracas
Mz        Mezzo Soprano

Narr      Narrator

ob        oboe
obda      oboe d'amore
obdc      oboe da caccia
obbl      obbligato
om        Ondes Martenot
opt       optional
orch      orchestra, orchestration
org       organ

perc      percussion
perf      performance
pf        piano
pf 4hnd   piano 4-hand
pic       piccolo
pr        prepared
pt        part

real      realized, realizer
rec       recorder
reconstr  reconstruction
red       reduced, reduction
rev       revised, reviser

S, s      Soprano (voice), soprano (instrument)
sarrus    sarrusophone
sc        score
sous      sousaphone
ssx       soprano saxophone
str       strings
str4t     string quartet
str5t     string quintet
syn       synthesizer
sx        saxophone

T, t      Tenor (voice), tenor (prefix)
tam       tam-tam
tamb      tambourine
tba       tuba
tbn       trombone
timp      timpani
theorbo   theorbo
tp        tape
tpt       trumpet
Tr, tr    Treble (voice), treble (prefix)
transc    transcribed
trec      tenor recorder
tsx       tenor saxophone
ttbl*     turntable

uke       ukelele

va        viola
vadg      viola da gamba
var       varying (duration) or various
vc        violoncello
vib       vibraphone
voc*      vocals (range unspecified)
vn        violin

Wtba      Wagner tuba
ww        woodwind

xba       xylorhimba
xyl       xylophone

Ykbd      Yamaha keyboard

5t        quintet
4t        quartet

( )       doubling
[ ]       alternative or optional