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Form and sustain

Repeat signs

Return to the matching repeat boundary and play the enclosed section again.

See it in the score

Backward repeat at the end of the Minuet's first strain

The left-facing dots send the performer back to replay the opening sixteen measures.

Open measure 16 in the piece
Backward repeat at the end of the Minuet's first strain From Minuet in G Major by J.S. Bach (attrib.; BWV Anh. 114, likely Christian Petzold), source measure 16.

Passage playback follows the literal encoded notes, rhythm, tempo, and written directions in this excerpt. It is a study aid, not a model of a pianist's touch, phrasing, ornament realization, or pedal technique.

In a sentence

Return to the matching repeat boundary and play the enclosed section again.

Repeat barlines compress form by showing music once on the page but asking for another traversal. Dots facing right begin a repeated span; dots facing left close it and send the performer back.

If no forward sign appears, convention usually sends the player to the beginning. Repeat signs often work together with numbered volta endings.