Ledger Lines
Ledger lines are the short lines added above or below a staff to carry notes that are too high or too low to fit on it. Each one continues the pattern of lines and spaces.
They are not a special kind of note. A note on the first ledger line above the treble staff is simply the next line up — the staff has run out, so the line is drawn only where it is needed.
How To Spot Ledger Lines
Look for the tiny dashes cutting through a note head above or below the five lines. Count them one at a time; two ledger lines above the treble staff is not a guess, it is a count.
Find It In Thirty Seconds
Find the highest note in any piece. Count its ledger lines and work upward from the top line of the staff, one line and one space at a time, naming each as you go.
Open any piece of sheet music on this site and do it now. Reading is a recognition skill, and recognition is built by finding things, not by reading about them.
Related Topics...
How to Read Sheet Music: Learn how to read sheet music using interactive lessons from Chordzy. Or browse our various reading music topics.
Music Notation Glossary: Every symbol on a page of piano music, explained in one sentence each — clefs, note values, rests, accidentals, dynamics and repeat marks.
Bass Clef: The bass clef is the symbol at the start of the lower staff. Its two dots sit either side of the fourth line up, fixing that line as F below middle C — hence i…
Middle C: Middle C is the C nearest the middle of the piano, and the note that sits on its own little ledger line between the two staves of piano music.
Staff: The staff is the set of five horizontal lines that piano music is written on. A note's vertical position on those lines and the spaces between them tells you w…
Treble Clef: The treble clef is the curled symbol at the start of the upper staff. It fixes the second line from the bottom as G above middle C, which is why it is also cal…
More in This Section
Legato: Legato means play smoothly and connected, with each note lasting until the next one begins.
Measure (Bar): A measure — also called a bar — is the space between two bar lines. The time signature says how many beats each measure holds.
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How to Read Piano Sheet Music: You learned to play Twinkle Twinkle by ear... now learn how to read piano sheet music for real with Chordzy.