## 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.