Repeat Signs and Codas Dr. Jarmon Signs of the times ! Repeat Signs and Codas Dr. Jarmon

Where did it all begin ? 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.

Why Repeat, repeat, repeat. . . ? Using signs to repeat sections of a song helps save the composer time It also helps save the forest! Less paper!

Follow the signs 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!

Repeat signs 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!

“Are You Sleeping? “ Repeat Signs in “Are You Sleeping?”

No Repeats . . . This example of “Are You Sleeping has no repeats and is 8 measures long instead of 4 measures!

Repeats with special endings First Ending & Second Ending 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 ending.

First & Second Endings

Da Capo Al Fine Da Capo: This music term means that you have to go back to the beginning Al Fine: means to the end. In other words, sing the whole piece through until you see the Fine sign which means The End.

D.S. al Fine 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.

To the . . . Coda! 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.

Navigate Around The Coda The coda symbol is used as a navigation marker. D.C. stands for Da Capo which means to return to the beginning! D.S. stands for Da Segno which means to return to the Segno sign! The al Coda suffix means to observe the Coda, the last time through!

Stop singing at this Coda and jump to the matching Coda Go back to the beginning then to the Coda Start singing here and end!

BACK TO THE SEGNO–THEN TO THE CODA SEGNU CODA SPECIAL ENDINGS BACK TO THE SEGNO–THEN TO THE CODA CODA

Take the navigation challenge: 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?