Repeat signs send you back to play a passage again. What sits between ‖: and :‖ is played twice, and first- and second-ending brackets pick a different measure each time. They change no notes, only the order.
A three-minute piece often fits on one page because large parts of it come round again. Rather than copy the same notes out twice, the score uses a sign that says "go back and play that again." So a repeat sign is not a page that got cut short — it is the page telling you the order.
Two lines and two dots: play what is between them twice. The left-hand sign is where you go back to.
If there is no ‖: on the left, you go back to the beginning of the piece. That is the one most often missed: a score with a single :‖ repeats everything from the top, not the measure you just played.
First and second endings: play the measure under 1., go back, then skip it and take 2.
Sign
Means
Go back to
‖: … :‖
play what is between twice
the ‖:
:‖ alone
play it twice
the start of the piece
1. / 2.
two different endings
skip 1. the second time
D.C.
da capo, from the top
measure one
D.S.
dal segno, from the 𝄋
wherever the 𝄋 is
Fine
the end is here
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Common questions
What do first and second endings mean?
Play through the measure under the 1. bracket the first time. When the repeat sends you back, skip that measure the second time and play the one under 2. instead, then keep going.
Where do you go back to if there is no opening repeat sign?
To the start of the piece. A closing repeat sign with no opening partner repeats everything before it, not just the last measure.