Repeat sign

In music, a repeat sign is a sign that indicates a section should be repeated. If the piece has one repeat sign alone, then that means to repeat from the beginning, and then continue on (or stop, if the sign appears at the end of the piece). A corresponding sign facing the other way indicates where the repeat is to begin. These are similar to the instructions da capo and dal segno.

When a repeat calls for a different ending, numbered brackets above the bars indicate which to play the first time (1), which to play the second time (2), etc. These are called "first-time bars" and "second-time bars," or "first and second endings." They are also known as "volta brackets" and have no limit to how many there can be.

In Unicode

In Unicode, repeat signs are part of the Musical Symbols and are coded as follows:

Other notation

When only standard keyboard characters are available, the punctuation marks vertical bar and colon are used to represent repeat signs: |: ... :|

In Gregorian chant, a repeat is indicated by a Roman numeral following a section. This is common particularly in a Kyrie, where the lines followed by "iii" are to be repeated three times (corresponding to the correct liturgical form).

Sheet music

Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols to indicate the pitches (melodies) and rhythms of a song or musical piece. Like its analogs – books, pamphlets, etc. – the medium of sheet music typically is paper (or, in earlier times, parchment), although the access to musical notation since the 1980s has included the presentation of musical notation on computer screens. Use of the term "sheet" is intended to differentiate written or printed music from a sound recording, radio or TV broadcast or a recorded live performance, which may capture film or video footage or the performance as well as the audio component. In everyday use, "sheet music" (or simply "music") can refer to the print publication of commercial music in conjunction with the release of a new film, TV show, record album, or other special or popular event which involves music. The first printed sheet music was made in 1473.

Sheet music is the basic form in which Western classical music is notated so that it can be performed by solo singers or instrumentalists or musical ensembles. Many forms of traditional and popular Western music are commonly learned by singers and musicians "by ear", rather than by using sheet music (although in many cases, traditional and pop music may also be available in sheet music form).

Music theory

Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. It generally derives from observation of, and involves hypothetical speculation about how musicians and composers make music. The term also describes the academic study and analysis of fundamental elements of music such as pitch, rhythm, harmony, and form, and refers to descriptions, concepts, or beliefs related to music. Because of the ever-expanding conception of what constitutes music (see Definition of music), a more inclusive definition could be that music theory is the consideration of any sonic phenomena, including silence, as it relates to music.

The present article is about music theory properly speaking, i.e. about theories, speculations and hypotheses made about the various aspects or music. It describes the elements of music only insofar as they give way to such theories; other informations about these elements will be found in other articles such as Aspect of music and the specific parameters of music described there. Textbooks, especially in the United States of America, often also include under the term "theory" elements of musical acoustics, considerations of musical notation, techniques of (often tonal) composition (Harmony and Counterpoint), etc., which will not be dealt with as such here, but only as they were the subject of theories and hypotheses.