Da capo

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Da capo

Da Capo is a musical term in Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance languages spoken by about 63 million people as a first language, primarily in Italy. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four Linguistic geography of Switzerlands....
, meaning from the beginning (literally from the head). It is often abbreviated D.C.. It is a composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, usually in the medium of musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of music....
or publisher's directive to repeat the previous part of music. In small pieces this might be the same thing as a repeat

Repeat

In music, a repeat sign is the Musical notation which indicates a musical form should be repetition . If the piece has one repeat sign alone, then that means to repeat from the beginning, and then continue on ....
, but in larger works D.C. might occur after one or more repeats of small sections, indicating a return to the very beginning. The resulting structure of the piece is generally in ternary form

Ternary form

Ternary form is a structuring mechanism of a piece of music. Along with several other musical forms, ternary form can also be applied to dance choreography....
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Da Capo is a musical term in Italian

Italian language

Composer

Repeat

Ternary form

Ternary form is a structuring mechanism of a piece of music. Along with several other musical forms, ternary form can also be applied to dance choreography....
. Sometimes the composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, usually in the medium of musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of music....
describes the part to be repeated, for example: Menuet da capo. In opera

Opera

Opera is an Performing arts in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work which combines a text and a musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition....
, where an aria of this structure is called a da capo aria

Da capo aria

The da capo aria was a musical form prevalent in the Baroque music era. It was sung by a soloist with the accompaniment of instruments, often a small orchestra....
, the repeated section is often adorned with grace note

Grace note

A grace note is a kind of music notation used to denote several kinds of musical ornament . When occurring by itself, a single grace note normally indicates the intention of either an ornament #Appoggiatura or an ornament #Acciaccatura....
s.

Variations of the direction are:

Da Capo al fine (D.C. al fine): repeat from beginning up to the word fine.
Da Capo al coda (D.C. al Coda
D.C. al Coda

D.C. al Coda is is a musical direction used in sheet music. It means, literally, "dal Capo al Coda," or "from the beginning, to the tail." It directs the musician to go back and repeat the music from the beginning , and to continue playing until he reaches the first Coda symbol....
): repeat from beginning to an indicated place and then play the tail part (the coda
Coda (music)

Coda is a term used in music in a number of different senses, primarily to designate a passage which brings a piece to a conclusion....
).

Da capo

See also