Al fine

As Printed on a Score

Usually the end of a jump instruction — D.C. al Fine, D.S. al Fine — sending the player back to the beginning or the 𝄋 sign to play as far as the word Fine, printed above the staff at the closing bar. In running directions such as rall. al fine or accelerando sin al fine it means the change continues to the end.

How Composers Use It

Al Fine lets a piece end in the middle of the page: write Fine at the close of the opening section and D.C. al Fine at the end of the contrasting one, as in a minuet and trio or an ABA song. By convention internal repeats are usually not taken on the return unless the score says otherwise. If the return differs in any detail, write it out; in running directions, sin al fine makes a change’s duration explicit.

Example

Satie, “L’omnibus automobile”, voice, m. 15: “D.C. al Fine”, sending the singer back to the beginning to stop at the “Fine” printed at m. 2.

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