Ledger Lines and Pitch

The five lines and four spaces of a stave can only show a limited range of notes. To write pitches that are higher or lower, we use short extra lines called ledger lines. At Grade 2 you extend the stave to two ledger lines above and two below each stave.

What ledger lines are

A ledger line is a small line drawn just above or below the stave for a single note. Notes can sit on a ledger line or in the space next to it, exactly as they do on the main stave. Each note uses only as many ledger lines as it needs, and the lines are drawn only around that note, not right across the page.

Middle C and the two clefs

Middle C is the note that sits on a ledger line just below the treble stave and just above the bass stave. It is the meeting point of the two clefs. In the treble clef, ledger lines below the stave carry the notes just under it: the space below the bottom line is D, the first ledger line is middle C, and lower notes continue downward. Ledger lines above the treble stave carry high notes such as A, B and C above the top line.

In the bass clef, ledger lines above the stave carry notes rising towards middle C: the space above the top line is B, the first ledger line above is middle C, and above that D, E and so on. Ledger lines below the bass stave carry very low notes.

Reading ledger-line notes

The trick is to keep counting in the usual line, space, line, space pattern. Start from a note you know on the stave, then step up or down through each line and space, including the ledger lines, naming the letters A to G as you go. Because the pattern never changes, you can always work out a ledger-line note by stepping carefully from a familiar one.

Reading the same pitch in both clefs also helps you understand how the treble and bass staves join around middle C to make the full keyboard range.