More about repeats – D.C. and D.S.
In an earlier lesson we learned about simple repeats. In this lesson you will learn about the following repeat instructions:
- Da Capo or D.C.: Repeat from the beginning
- Da Capo al Fine or D.C. al Fine: Go back to beginning and sing to Fine
- Dal Segno or D.S.: Repeat from the sign
- Dal Segno al Fine or D.S. al Fine: Go back to the sign and sing to Fine
When you are to repeat an entire piece of music, the composer or arranger will write Da capo or D.C. at the end of the piece. Da capo is Italian and means “from the beginning.” When singing or playing a piece of music and you see Da capo or D.C., then you should go back to the beginning and sing or play the piece a second time. In figure 1 is an example of D.C.
Fig. 1
Sometimes you will see Da capo al Fine or D.C. al Fine. In these cases you are to go back to the beginning and sing until you reach the place marked Fine. Figure 2 shows this case. At the end of the fourth bar is Fine, so you would go back to the beginning and play or sing to the end of the fourth bar.
Fig. 2
There are times when the composer or arranger wants you to repeat the music from some point other than the beginning. To mark these points we use a Segno (another Italian word). You can call it a sign – an English word.
Segno
The Segno or sign is used to mark the beginning or end of repeated sections. To indicate that you are to repeat from the sign the composer uses Dal Segno or D.S. See figures 3 and 4 for examples of D.S. In these illustrations it is easy to see where the sign is, but in your music the sign is often on a different page from the D.S. If you are allowed to write in your score, take a pencil and indicate the page that the sign is on next to the Dal Segno or D.S.
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
The final example in this post illustrates Dal segno al Fine or D.S. al Fine. When you see these instructions you are to go back to the sign and sing until you reach Fine. By the way, Fine is also Italian and means “the end.” It is not the English “fine.” See figure 5 for an example of D.S. al Fine.
Fig. 5
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