First and Second Endings
First and second endings are the bracketed bars marked 1. and 2. Play the first ending, take the repeat, then skip it and play the second ending instead.
They exist because a repeated section often needs to finish differently the second time — once to lead back round, once to move on.
How To Spot First And Second Endings
Numbered brackets above the staff near a repeat sign, each covering one or more measures.
Find It In Thirty Seconds
Trace the path with a finger: through the first ending, back to the repeat, then jump over the first ending into the second. Do it before you play, not during.
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.
Related Topics...
How to Read Sheet Music: Learn how to read sheet music using interactive lessons from Chordzy. Or browse our various reading music topics.
Music Notation Glossary: Every symbol on a page of piano music, explained in one sentence each — clefs, note values, rests, accidentals, dynamics and repeat marks.
Bar Line: A bar line is the vertical line crossing the staff that divides music into measures. A double bar line marks the end of a section, and a thick double bar marks…
Coda: A coda is the ending section of a piece, marked with a circle-and-cross symbol. You jump to it from a To Coda mark after taking a D.C. or D.S. repeat.
Repeat Sign: A repeat sign is a double bar line with two dots. Play up to it, then go back to the matching sign facing the other way — or to the beginning if there is none…
More in This Section
Flat: A flat (♭) lowers a note by one semitone — the very next key to the left, black or white.
Grand Staff: The grand staff is the pair of staves piano music is written on: treble clef on top for the right hand, bass clef underneath for the left, joined by a brace.