Musical Practice and Performance Stack Exchange
Musical Practice and Performance Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [repeats]

For questions about repeated sections of music. Volta repeats (marked with repeat barlines), DC repeats, Simile repeats, as well as the meaning, notation, and implementation of these are all on topic.

This tag is for questions about repeated sections of music.

There are several forms of repeats in music notation:

  • Volta repeats (barline repeats), including alternative endings, and 2nd time only instructions.
  • Da Capo (D.C.), Dal Segno (D.S.), and the like.
  • Simile repeats (percent and slash).

Questions on the meaning, notation, and implementation of these repeats are all on topic with this tag.

Questions about implementing repeats with a particular software should also be tagged with that particular software, e.g. or .

Tremolo repeats are better tagged with the tag.

Question on how to represent musical forms that include repeated sections should also be tagged with the tag.

135 questions
23
votes
3 answers

Three diagonal lines that cross through both staves

What do these three thick diagonal lines that cross through three measures of both staves mean, and what are they called? I think they indicate that you repeat the previous three measures, but I'm not entirely sure.
LunaZiggy
  • 333
  • 2
  • 5
19
votes
3 answers

How can I force LilyPond to repeat a chord symbol (relates to alternate endings)?

In chordmode, LilyPond chooses not to display chord symbols when they are the same as the preceding symbol, which is usually the right behavior. However, this behavior gets weird in the context of alternate endings of repeats. Here's a simple…
David Tresner-Kirsch
  • 395
  • 1
  • 8
15
votes
3 answers

Dynamic marking "f-p"

I know that: The dynamic marking f means forte, or play loud. And that p means piano, or play soft. The dynamic marking fp means fortepiano, or play this note loud, and play the following notes soft. I have an old music book that uses the…
Elements in Space
  • 10,785
  • 2
  • 23
  • 67
15
votes
1 answer

What do these symbols mean?

This is part of Hasse's "Mea Tormenta, Properate": Figure 1. Three staffs of handwritten music. The top staff is in treble clef and the key of B flat. The second staff is also in treble clef and in the same key. It has no notes and just contains a…
Ella L
  • 153
  • 1
  • 5
14
votes
2 answers

What does "al primo" mean?

I'm currently playing a sonata from the late baroque period, which ends with two menuets: minuetto primo and minuetto secondo. Now, under the closing repeat mark of menuet two, "al primo" is notated. I assume, that this means, that the first menuet…
guidot
  • 10,215
  • 1
  • 21
  • 51
13
votes
5 answers

Is there a good way to denote nested repeats?

I'm arranging a song and I have a jam section in it that could be repeated an arbitrary amount of times. The problem is that the jam section itself contains repeats, so I have "nested repeats". What I want to accomplish can be illustrated with this…
klutt
  • 1,418
  • 8
  • 28
13
votes
6 answers

Is there a definitive notation for multiple repeats?

Is there a definitive notation for repeating a section more than twice? Say you want a section to be played four times. I have mostly seen this: x4 .... meaning "play four times", but I have also seen this: x3 .... meaning repeat…
Len
  • 233
  • 1
  • 2
  • 7
13
votes
2 answers

Different Simile Marks

In the pictures below, there are many measures with different simile marks. I know there are many different types of simile marks, varying number of lines, with or without dots, on barline or in the measure. Can someone explain the meaning of each…
vcapra1
  • 255
  • 1
  • 3
  • 9
13
votes
1 answer

What does F.O. mean, and is it related to a repeat?

I have some sheet music (from a Japanese book, if that matters in any way) and it says "F.O." at the end of some pieces. I could find some other terms related to repeats (D.S. being Dal Segno, so D.S. to A makes sense to me), but I couldn't find…
Michael Stum
  • 345
  • 1
  • 8
12
votes
1 answer

What does ( ) = D.S.x mean?

As shown in the second bar of the third complete system (fourth system on the page), I guess it tells me to play like this on first/second time or something. What is the name of notation? I searched Del Segno but it doesn’t seems right.
Trollman Cheung
  • 307
  • 3
  • 6
11
votes
3 answers

Unknown Symbol : Slash with two dots

I have checked through music notation lists and have asked a number of musicians but nobody knows what this symbol is actually supposed to mean.
CMD
  • 113
  • 1
  • 7
11
votes
2 answers

How to insert cautionary key signature before repeat mark using Sibelius 7

I'm arranging wind parts for the following song (excerpt below). This is the end of a repeated section that starts in D major and changes to F major halfway through. So, the repeat mark at the end of the section, (in the first and second time bars)…
Bob Broadley
  • 21,161
  • 6
  • 67
  • 121
11
votes
2 answers

When should the last ending bracket(volta) be closed and when should it be open?

I have a question about the last volta (ultima volta, last ending bracket). When should it be closed and when should it be open? I have found a document about that topic, which can be found here on page 20:…
Schnotzer
  • 111
  • 3
10
votes
1 answer

How to write a score that begins with a pickup note and repeats

I'm writing a song as a score for piano and vocal. The verses begin with a pickup note on 4. So, after the chorus I end on 4 and then pickup up into the next verse with a repeat sign. The question is: Where do I write the pickup notes and lyrics…
Rob
  • 101
  • 3
10
votes
4 answers

Is there a special way to notate a repeat for the right (treble) hand but not the left (bass) hand?

I'm working with a section of music where the right hand (treble clef) plays the same thing twice, but the left hand (bass clef) differs the second time round. Usually I would just rewrite out the second treble part identically, but I was just…
Aralox
  • 203
  • 1
  • 6
1
2 3
…
8 9