## Da Capo

D.C. means go back to the beginning. D.C. al Fine means go back and stop at the word Fine; D.C. al Coda means go back and jump to the coda when you reach the coda sign.

Da capo is Italian for "from the head". It is a way of writing an A-B-A form without printing the A section twice, and it is why a two-page piece can be three minutes long.


## How To Spot Da Capo

The letters D.C. below the staff, usually with al Fine or al Coda after them.


## Find It In Thirty Seconds

Find a D.C. and mark the route in pencil — to the top, then where you stop or jump. Getting lost at a D.C. is the most common sight-reading derailment there is.

Open any piece of sheet music on this site and do it now. Reading is a recognition skill, and recognition is built by finding things, not by reading about them.