Segno
The segno (Italian “sign”) is a jump sign: it marks the place from which the repeat starts at the instruction “dal segno” (D.S.). Its shape is an S with a slanting stroke and two dots.
- Sign
- S with a slanting stroke and two dots
- Instruction
- D.S. = dal segno: repeat from the sign
- Variants
- D.S. al Fine, D.S. al Coda
- Related
- da capo
The sign in the piece
A segno is a marking in the score. By itself it has no meaning; it gets one from the instruction “dal segno” (abbreviated D.S.), which appears elsewhere, usually at the end. It says: jump back to the segno and play on from there. The sign itself is a combination of an S (for Latin “signum”), a slanting stroke and two dots.
Segno on the first note, “D.S. al Fine” at the end (treble clef)
The sign is written above the first note. At the end “D.S. al Fine” asks you to jump back there and play up to the word “Fine” in the second bar. The audio example plays the notes through once, without the jump.
Segno in the middle of the piece, bass clef
The segno can also come further on. Then “D.S.” does not jump to the beginning but into the second bar and plays from there to “Fine”.
Jump instructions at a glance
With “dal segno” there are a number of additions. With al Fine up to the word “Fine”, which shows the end, with al Coda up to a jump-off point where you jump into the coda, the appended closing section. The da capo (D.C.) works in just the same way, except that it jumps to the beginning of the piece instead of to a sign. The table shows all cases.
| Instruction | Meaning |
|---|---|
| D.C. (da capo) | repeat from the beginning |
| D.C. al Fine | from the beginning to the word “Fine” |
| D.C. al Coda | from the beginning to the jump-off point, then into the coda |
| D.S. (dal segno) | repeat from the segno |
| D.S. al Fine | from the segno to “Fine” |
| D.S. al Coda | from the segno to the jump-off point, then into the coda |
What it is for
Jump signs save space: a section is not written out again but repeated by a sign and an instruction. Anyone playing from the page should look for all jump signs on the first look through, in order to know the route through the piece.
Common mistakes
- Confusing the segno with the coda sign: The coda sign is a jump mark to the coda, the segno a mark to jump back to.
- Ending too early: “al Fine” means playing up to the word “Fine”, not to the end of the notes.
- Forgetting the jump: The instruction “D.S.” holds exactly once, at the end of the first pass.
Continue on Maikstrings
Related terms
Dal segnoDa capoCodaFineRepeat signFirst-time bar (prima volta)Bar / measure
Editor: Maik Krohm · reviewed on 3 October 2026
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