Da Capo

Da capo, abbreviated D.C., is Italian for ‘from the head’ — meaning ‘from the beginning’. As a notation direction it instructs the performer to repeat the music from the beginning of the piece. It is one of the most common formal markings in classical music.

The direction usually appears at the end of a section, with additional instructions specifying where to stop the repeat. D.C. al fine means ‘from the beginning, to fine’ (i.e., repeat from the beginning until reaching the marking ‘fine’). D.C. al coda means ‘from the beginning, to the coda symbol, then jump to the coda’.

The da capo aria — a vocal form with an A section, B section, and repeat of the A section — was a staple of Baroque opera. Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi wrote countless da capo arias, where the singer would ornament the repeated A section as an expressive elaboration.

Italian, ‘from the head’ — da (‘from’) + capo (‘head, beginning’), from Latin caput.

When you see D.C., return to the beginning. Don’t repeat any other instructions you encountered earlier (repeat signs are ignored on the second pass unless explicitly marked). The repeat continues until you reach a stopping point.