Guitar Chord Charts: Follow Repeat Signs and First and Second Endings

Intro

A chord chart can contain fewer written bars than you actually play. Repeat signs send you back through a section, and first and second endings let that section finish differently on its two visits. If you only follow chord names from left to right, you can miss an entire pass or play an ending that should have been skipped.

The quickest way to learn the route is to trace it without the guitar. Use the short original example below, say the bar labels in playing order, then add one strum per bar. You can deal with a busier rhythm after the navigation is no longer taking all your attention.

Know what the chart is showing

Here, a chord chart means a timeline of bars with chord names. It tells you when to use each chord. A chord-box diagram instead shows where to put your fingers for a particular shape. They solve different problems, even though both are sometimes called chord charts.

Tablature is different again: it can specify individual frets and strings. If your song sheet combines several systems, use the guide to reading guitar tablature to separate note instructions from section navigation. The repeat route still needs to be followed, whichever kind of playing information sits inside it.

A section repeat is usually marked by paired dots beside a double bar line. The opening repeat marks where to return; the closing repeat marks the point that sends you back. In a straightforward repeat without another instruction, play the section twice in total. If a count such as three times is specified, follow that count instead.

Give every bar a clear label

Our example is in 4/4. Each labelled bar contains four beats and one chord. The physical order on the page is A, B, C, D, E. Bars C and D are alternative endings, so you do not play them consecutively as part of one uninterrupted first pass.

This is a prose display of the chart, with the repeat locations stated explicitly:

• ❯ Opening repeat: immediately before bar A. Bar A is G for four beats.
• ❯ Bar B is C for four beats and belongs to the common repeated section.
• ❯ First ending: bar C only, containing D for four beats. The first-ending bracket begins at the start of C and ends at its end. The closing repeat is immediately after C and sends you back to the opening repeat before A.
• ❯ Second ending: bar D only, containing G for four beats. Its bracket covers D only. On the second pass, skip C entirely and go directly from B to D. There is no closing repeat after D.
• ❯ Bar E is Em for four beats, outside both endings. Continue to E after D, then stop at the end of E.

The expanded bar route is A-B-C-A-B-D-E. Expanded chord order is G-C-D-G-C-G-Em, with each chord lasting one four-beat bar. There are seven played bars, even though the page contains five distinct labelled bars.

Trace the route before making a sound

Point to A, B and C. At the closing repeat after C, move your finger back to A. Point to A and B again. This time the first ending is no longer yours to play, so move past C to D, then continue to E.

Say the route aloud twice: A, B, C, A, B, D, E. If you hesitate at B on the second pass, practise only that decision. Say second-pass B, skip C, play D. Re-reading the entire page repeatedly may hide the exact place where the uncertainty occurs.

Do not add an extra beat for the jump. The next selected bar begins on the next beat one, just as it would if all seven bars had been written out. Your eyes may travel backwards or forwards on the page, but musical time carries on.

Count bars separately from beats

Tap four beats for each bar while speaking its letter on beat one. A useful spoken run is A-two-three-four, B-two-three-four, C-two-three-four, then A-two-three-four again. Complete the remaining B, D and E bars in the same way.

Now hold G and strum once on beat one of A, letting it ring for four beats. Change to C on beat one of B, then D on beat one of C. Return to G for the repeated A. Finish the full route with no extra strum or pause at the closing repeat.

If chord changes are still difficult, tap the complete route on muted strings first. The practice advice in how to learn a song on guitar can help separate a reading problem from a fingering problem. There is little value in making both harder at once.

Add rhythm without losing the second ending

Once one strum per bar is secure, use four gentle downstrums per bar. Keep the same tempo and the same route. The chord changes belong on beat one; the other strums fill the bar without altering where it ends.

Watch the end of the current bar early enough to prepare the next one. During the first B, the destination is C. During the second B, the destination is D. A small pencil reminder on a working copy can help, but do not overwrite an actual chord or navigation instruction.

Record one complete attempt and count the played bars during playback. You should hear seven four-beat bars. If you hear eight, you may have played C and D on the second pass. If you hear only five, you may have read straight through without taking the repeat.

Recognise similar-looking instructions without mixing them up

A one-bar repeat symbol inside a bar usually means to repeat the previous bar's content there. It does not send you back to the start of a whole section. A closing section-repeat sign and a one-bar repeat symbol therefore perform different jobs.

Charts can also contain D.C., D.S. and coda instructions. Those introduce other destinations and rules; they are outside this first exercise. If a real chart includes them, establish the complete intended route before assuming the simple two-pass example applies.

You will recognise common changes more quickly after studying familiar guitar chord progressions, but recognition is not permission to ignore the chart. A second ending may contain a small harmonic difference that prepares a new section rather than another loop.

Outro

Write A-B-C-A-B-D-E on your practice sheet, trace it once, then play it with one strum per bar before adding your usual rhythm. The specific skill is choosing D after the second B while leaving C out completely. When that choice happens without a pause, the repeat signs have become usable playing instructions rather than marks you merely recognise.

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