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.
A repeated verse needs two different last bars: one that leads back to the start and one that leads on to whatever comes next. Writing the verse out twice would double the page, so the brackets fit both endings into one copy.
How to spot it
Brackets above the staff with 1. and 2. printed inside them, beside a repeat sign. Each bracket covers one or more bars.
Find it in thirty seconds
Trace the route with a finger before you play, not during: through bracket 1, back to the repeat sign, then over bracket 1 and into bracket 2.
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: Bar Line in piano music. 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…
Coda: Coda in piano music. 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…
Repeat Sign: Repeat Sign in piano music. 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…
More in This Section
Flat: Flat in piano music. A flat (♭) lowers a note by one semitone, the very next key to the left, black or white.
Grand Staff: Grand Staff in piano music. 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 th…