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I'm having a difficult time grasping "D.S., D.S. Al Coda, To Coda" based on the online explanations I've come across.

Below is the specific example that I'm attempting to play. Does the Dal Segno symbol mean "repeat the previous passage"? Up to where? When do I play the coda? Where it says "To Coda", is the circle with the cross through it hovering above the exact place that you jump to the coda?

I'm probably overcomplicating a fairly straightforward concept here, but I'm confused. If anyone could simplify this for me or explain what to do in this specific example I might be able to wrap my head around it. Thank you.

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    I don't see the symbol that is usually referenced in D.S. is it elsewhere in the music? – ggcg Feb 9 '19 at 10:54
  • Your understanding seems correct but the music you have places the sign at the same measure as the direction, which I do not understand. – ggcg Feb 9 '19 at 10:56
  • DS al coda. DS means return to a previous $ sign. Having that $ above DS makes them both redundant. Good question! – Tim Feb 9 '19 at 11:04
  • Who's the publisher? I believe I've seen that faultily-placed segno sign only once before, in the Boosey and Hawkes score of Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No. 2 in A Minor...and even then, there was another segno sign much earlier in the score. (Its use of combining a first repeat ending with a "D.S. al Coda" indication was confusing as heck, though, and at that point, I had to rely on interpretations of the piece in order to transcribe it properly.) ...Well, have you found another segno sign elsewhere? – Dekkadeci Feb 9 '19 at 14:54
  • I didn't think about a faultily-placed segno. I was rather suspicious if OP wasn't fooling, sorry, as it seemed to me that he quite clearly knows the meaning of the signs. And he might have listened to the music, this would have been less elaborating than post this question. but I'm confused. If anyone could simplify this for me or explain what to do in this specific example I might be able to wrap my head around it. Thank you. But if this is an error in the sheet music I have to apologize! (and I know: of course it is free to everybody if he wants to post an answer or not .... – Albrecht Hügli Feb 9 '19 at 15:34
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The coda here is the final bar. Coda means "the tail" In this case of LET IT BE it is only one bar.

Does the Dal Segno symbol mean "repeat the previous passage"?

Yes!

D.S. (Dal Segno) means "from the sign" and this is the sign right above the double barlines (something like an $:

Up to where?

this segno refers to an earlier same segno, probably at the beginning of the 3rd verse of LET IT BE or at the beginning of the refrain.

That means you have to go back to the other sign (segno) and repeat this section until you come to "to coda" (sometimes it's written "last time to Coda").

When do I play the coda?

When you play the refrain for the last time you have to ignore the 3 last bars (before the tail) and skip from "to Coda" directly to the coda and play the final bar.

When do I play the coda? Where it says "To Coda", is the circle with the cross through it hovering above the exact place that you jump to the coda?

Yes!

I'm probably overcomplicating a fairly straightforward concept here ...

(Yes!)

look up:

https://www.thoughtco.com/d-s-al-coda-definition-2701445

D.S. al coda, or dal segno al coda, literally means “from the sign to the coda mark.” D.S. al coda is an indication to start back at the segno, play until you encounter a coda, then skip to the next coda to continue.

I've found this sheet music by scribd (the added notes/remarks are not mine!) But you can see here the segno at the double bar line in the beginning of the verse:

https://www.scribd.com/doc/312619090/Let-it-be-Beatles-pdf

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The easy bit to answer is the coda part. After the words 'to Coda', there is one bar to finish off the previous phrase. Last time, you play the Coda bar instead. It's the same harmony, but finishes the song off. In other words, last time through, play the first 3 bars, then go straight to the 'target' at the end, and there's the final bar of the four.

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The coda here is the final bar. Coda means "the tail" In this case of LET IT BE it is only one bar

When you play the refrain for the last time you have to ignore the 3 last bars (before the tail) and skip from "to Coda" directly to the coda and play the final bar.

D.S. (Dal Segno) means "from the sign" and this is the sign right above the double barlines (something like an $:

this segno refers to an earlier same segno, probably at the beginning of the 3rd verse of LET IT BE or at the beginning of the refrain.

That means you have to go back to the other sign (segno) and repeat this section until you come to "to coda" (sometimes it's written "last time to Coda").

look up:

https://www.thoughtco.com/d-s-al-coda-definition-2701445

D.S. al coda, or dal segno al coda, literally means “from the sign to the coda mark.” D.S. al coda is an indication to start back at the segno, play until you encounter a coda, then skip to the next coda to continue.

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