Repeat Signs and Codas

Dr. Jarmon

In the Middle Ages, the “hippest” song going was the Gregorian chant . It was a simple melody originating from the Jewish temple. It was named after Pope Gregory.

The repeat sign was first used in the Gregorian chants. It was indicated by a Roman numeral "iij" following a section of the song.

Using signs to repeat sections of a song helps save the composer time

It also helps save the forest! Less paper!

Repeat signs function like a road map. They help the singer maneuver their way through a song as smoothly and quickly as a GPS!

Notice how the

different signs tell us which direction

we’re heading

and where to turn!

The most common repeat sign is the “single” repeat. The Single repeat signs tell the singer to sing from the beginning until they get to the repeat sign.

The repeat sign directs you to go back to the beginning and sing again – then keep going.

So, you only repeat the section 2 times!

Repeat Signs in “Are You Sleeping?”

This example of “Are You Sleeping This example of “Are You Sleeping has no repeats and is 8 measures has no repeats and is 8 measures

long instead of 4 measures!long instead of 4 measures!

These music symbols tell you to go to different endings after repeating a part of a song.

During the first time you have to follow the sign of the first ending, and after repeating the song between the dotted bars you have to skip the first ending and go straight to the second endingsecond ending.

First Ending & Second Ending First Ending & Second Ending

Da Capo: This music term means that you have to go go back to the back to the beginningbeginning

Al Fine: means to the end. In other words, sing the whole piece through until you see the Fine sign which means The End.

Da Segno al Fine: means “to the sign”

When you see the Da Segno al Fine Sign you should go back to the sign instead of going to the beginning like the D.C al Fine Sign and play through until the FINE.

When we talk about a coda in musical terms, we can assume that we are talking about the ending of something. However, let’s look at a few of the specific ways in which the term "coda" is used, in order to clearly define it.

This symbol is encountered mainly in modern music, not works by classical composers such as Haydn or Mozart. In other words, it wasn’t created until after the 1770’s!

The instruction "To Coda" means that once you reach that point during the final repetition, you immediately jump to the separate section headed with the coda symbol.

The key is to look for the Coda symbols – one is a starting point and the second is an ending point.

The coda symbol is used as a navigation marker.The coda symbol is used as a navigation marker.

D.C. stands for Da CapoDa Capo which means to return to the beginning!return to the beginning!D.S. stands for Da SegnoDa Segno which means to return to the Segno sign!return to the Segno sign!

The al Coda suffix means to observe the Coda, the last time through!

Go back to the

beginning then to

the Coda

Stop singing at this Coda and jump to the matching

Coda

Start singing here and end!

SPECIAL ENDINGS

SEGNU

CODA

CODA

BACK TO THE SEGNO–THEN TO

THE CODA

What does da segno mean?What does da capo mean?What does al fine mean?What do you do when you see this term: d.s. al fine?What do you do when you see this term: d.c. al fine?What do you do when you see this term: d.c. al coda?What do you do when you see this term: d.s. al coda?