What is a barline in Music, and What does it do?
A bar line (also spelled barline) is a vertical line in written music. Barlines help make it easier to read music by showing its structure: single bar lines divide the music into measures, and double bar lines mark larger sections (or the end of a piece). This guide explains the most common barlines, shows what they look like, and explains some of the rarer types of barlines.
Jump To: Single | Double | Final | Repeats | Rare |
If you're still building fundamental skills, this is page is a good fit if you already know How To Read Music Notes (without Every Good Boy Does Fine).
I've been teaching guitar lessons to students of all ages since 2006, from children and adults who are absolute beginners all the way through courses and private lessons atSwarthmore College.
Common Bar Lines
Single Bar Line
The Single Bar line is the fundamental type of bar line. It simply indicates that a measure is ending.
Double Bar Line
A double-bar line is typically used to show that a large section of music is ending. You may notice a shift in the character of the music after this sort of bar line. It can also be used to indicate the end of a piece.
Final Bar Line
A variant of the Double Bar Line with one light and one heavy line. The Final Bar line is used at the end of the piece.
Repeat Signs
You must learn and memorize what these mean. They indicate that some music is to be repeated. Below the pictures, I explain how to read repeat signs.
Begin Repeat
End Repeat
Double Repeat
Begin Repeat Sign (optional)
This indicates the Beginning of the section of music to be repeated (you won't always see it; it's optional in some situations). When you arrive at this the first time, simply make note of it and keep playing the music.
The beginning repeat sign is typically used when the composer only wants the player to repeat a portion of the music.
End Repeat Sign
This indicates the end of a section of music to be repeated. The section will be repeated 1 time unless otherwise indicated.
When you see this, you need to figure out how far back to go to begin your repeat.
If you had previously passed a begin-repeat sign, go back to that spot and repeat the music. If there is no begin repeat sign, simply repeat from the beginning.
Here are two examples, one without the beginning repeat sign and one with.
I will use | : to indicate beginning repeat and : | to indicate ending repeat.
Without the beginning repeat:
A A B B C C D D : |
is played
A A B B C C D D
A A B B C C D D
With the beginning repeat sign:
A A B B |: C C D D : |
is played
A A B B C C D D
C C D D
Double Repeat Sign
The double repeat sign is the combination of an end repeat sign and a beginning repeat sign. It indicates that the material on either side of it is to be repeated. So, if we had two sections of music (A and B) and wanted both repeated (A A B B), we could write it using
- A Begin Repeat sign
- The A section Music
- A Double Repeat Sign
- The B Section Music
- An End Repeat Sign
It would look something like this (: || : used as the Double Repeat Sign) | : A section : || : B Section : |
Reverse Final Bar Line
Stuck somewhere between common and uncommon bar lines, this double-bar line variant also indicates the end of a section. You can expect the character shift in the music to be more drastic that the use of a simple Double Bar Line; for example, the music might end a section and begin a new one in a new key.
Now that you're familiar with these basic barlines, and how they group the notes into bars, it's a good time to learn rhythm reading.
Uncommon Bar Lines
Winged Double Repeat Sign
Winged Repeat Sign
Winged Repeat Sign
Heavy Double Bar Line
Heavy Bar Line
Dotted Bar Line
Half Bar Line
Tick Bar Line
The winged repeat signs function precisely the same as regular repeat signs and are a stylistic choice.
Heavy versions of more common bar lines, like the Heavy Double Bar Line and Heavy Bar Line, can be used in pieces with more structural complexity. Heavy Bar lines would indicate larger structural sections or breaks, and the standard bar lines would indicate smaller sections within them. In fact, they function much like the text on this page; the largest text denotes the largest structural ideas (headings), and the smaller text denotes smaller ideas (subheadings).
The Dotted Bar Line (and its cousin, the Dashed Bar Line, not shown) can be used in uncommon meters like 5/4 to help the reader understand where the mid-measure musical emphasis should happen.
The Half Bar Line and Tick Bar Line are most common in plainsong, where they indicate a slight gap or breath between phrases. They are also used in modern editions of music that predate the bar line's use. These are used to help the reader understand the structure but indicate that there may not be a stress on the "downbeat" following these bar lines.
Music has many parallels to spoken language, but it is essential for the beginning musician to understand that the bar line is not like a period.
- It does not indicate the end of a musical idea or musical sentence.
- In fact, a complete musical idea, called a phrase, almost always takes multiple measures to unfold.
- A musical phrase almost never ends at a bar line.
- It is most common for musical ideas to end on the downbeat right after a bar line.
(If you're thinking, "What is this guy talking about? Most pieces of music end at the bar line!", that's not quite right. Most pieces of music end on beat 1 with either a long note or a short note followed by rests.)
Conclusion
That’s the full set of bar line types you’ll see in standard notation. If you’re stuck on what a bar line does to sharps, flats, and naturals, see my Accidentals in Music article for a clear explanation of The Bar Line Rule.
And if you’re building overall reading and rhythmic fluency, these two guides pair well with bar lines:
