Repeat signs · Music theory
Repeat bars, first and second endings, Da Capo, Dal Segno and Coda.
Repeat bars
Two dots next to a double bar mean that what lies between it and the previous repeat bar is repeated. If there is no opening bar, you go back to the start of the piece. Normally it is repeated just once.
What gets repeated
If a piece has several repeat bars, each repeat goes back to the nearest opening bar. When one section repeats and so does the next, each is done separately. Some composers write explicit instructions, such as “three times”, and those rule.
In a given performance, the musician may decide to skip a repeat, as is common in long symphonies. But in an exam all of them are taken.