Fine
The mark that tells a D.C. or D.S. return where to stop
Related
Fine is Italian for "end", and in a score it marks where a repeated journey stops. It usually appears with D.C. al fine or D.S. al fine: the player first reaches the section's end, returns to the beginning or the Segno, and stops when Fine comes round again. Fine is not necessarily the last bar; it may sit in the middle, because the first pass goes straight past it.
A common mistake is to read Fine as an ordinary final barline. A barline divides bars; Fine is an exit for a return route. Without D.C. or D.S. it normally confirms the end of the piece.
Read by the route, not down the page. Locate the D.C. or D.S. first, then Fine and the coda, and the composer's order in time becomes clear.
Sources
- Fine 在 da capo 与 dal segno 结构中的止点作用，参 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "Da capo"；本文为原创表述
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.