Understanding theory
Navigate music notation Time to get score savvy and stay on track through notation with repeats and endings
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earning to read music is like learning a different language. There are so many different directions, most of them in Italian, and it can get confusing when you’re faced with a page of music peppered with markings and symbols. It can get especially sticky when certain tunes require you to double-back on yourself and repeat sections over and over. Where do you start from and how do you know what to repeat? The good news for beginners is that once you
understand the theory behind all this melodious jiggery-pokery, you’ll realise that all it takes is the memorising of a few key attributes to keep you flowing through the bars. The first aspect to grasp is bar lines and what different ones mean. Then codas and segno signs step in. These symbols, alongside some Italian directions that we will cover in more detail soon, will give you a clear idea of what notes and bars to repeat and when.
The last things that you’ll need to recognise when navigating your way around a piece of sheet music are first and second time lines. These bars show you when there are alternate endings to a tune or part of a tune. In time and with a bit of practice, you’ll know exactly what you need to play and where. It’s best to think about these symbols as more like road signs on a stave. They’ll point you in the right direction and then you’ll be playing beautifully in no time.
Repeats and endings Get to grips with the bare essentials of what to play, when and where
01 Repeat bar lines
02 Coda and segno
These types of bar line instruct you to repeat parts of the music. Start-repeat bars have dots on the right and end-repeat have dots on the left. Play bars 1–3, repeat bars 2-3, then simply carry on.
These symbols are markers, used alongside Italian terms to show you where in the music to play from or jump to. The coda symbol looks like a cross through a circle and the segno symbol looks like a crossed S with two dots.
03 DS and DC
04 Further instructions
Complementing the symbols are the Italian phrasings dal segno (DS) which means ‘from the sign’ (which is the Segno symbol), and da capo (DC) which means ‘from the beginning’. These can be accompanied by other phrases.
D.C. al Fine means you should go back to the start until you reach the word ‘Fine’ (pronouned feen-ay). Once you get to Fine the piece will then end. If the D.C. al Fine instruction is not accompanied by Fine then just play until the end.
48 Piano for Beginners
