Last Updated on January 10, 2023 by Rebecca
- What are ledger lines in music?
- Example of Ledger Lines in Music
- Treble Clef Ledger Lines
- Bass Clef Ledger Lines
- Piano Ledger Lines Chart PDF
- Get your FREE Ledger Lines Study Pack!
- Why do we need ledger lines?
- How many ledger lines are there?
- How many ledger lines should I learn?
- How to Avoid Multiple Ledger Lines
- How to Read Ledger Lines Notes
- How do you learn ledger lines on piano?
- Get your FREE Ledger Lines Study Pack!
- Using Mnemonics for Memorizing Ledger Lines
- Using Guide Notes to Read Ledger Lines
- How do you practice ledger lines for piano?
- Get your FREE Ledger Lines Study Pack!
- Related Posts
What are ledger lines in music?
Ledger lines are small lines used to extend the music staff. They can be used above and below any music staff.
Depending how high or low a given note is, you might see only one ledger line, or you might see several ledger lines stacked on top of each other.
Example of Ledger Lines in Music
Let’s take a look at some examples of ledger lines in sheet music.
The following image shows the first 2 lines of Beethoven's Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 2, No. 2. The ledger line notes are highlighted in yellow.
As you can see, ledger line notes appear frequently in music, above and below both the treble staff and the bass staff.
This is a more advanced piece, but you will also come across ledger lines in much simpler pieces for beginners.
Treble Clef Ledger Lines
You'll find ledger lines both above and below the treble staff. The diagrams below illustrate them with letter names and their connection to the notes on the piano keyboard.
Notes on Ledger Lines Above the Treble Clef
The diagram below shows how ledger lines can be used to represent high notes on the piano, all the way up to the very top note of the piano keyboard.
Notes on Ledger Lines Below the Treble Clef
In theory, ledger lines could be used below the treble staff to represent notes all the way down to the very bottom note of the piano keyboard. But you won't see that in music since it would be an inefficient way to represent the lowest notes.
For this reason, the diagram below shows a smaller range of notes represented on ledger lines below the treble staff.
Bass Clef Ledger Lines
You'll find ledger lines both above and below the bass staff. The diagrams below illustrate them with letter names and their connection to the notes on the piano keyboard.
Notes on Ledger Lines Above the Bass Clef
In theory, ledger lines could be used above the bass staff to represent notes all the way up to the very top note of the piano keyboard. But you won't see that in music since it would be an inefficient way to represent the highest notes.
For this reason, the diagram below shows a smaller range of notes represented on ledger lines above the bass staff.
Notes on Ledger Lines Below the Bass Clef
The diagram below shows notes represented on ledger lines below the bass staff, all the way down to the lowest note of the piano keyboard.
Piano Ledger Lines Chart PDF
My Ledger Lines Study Pack includes several resources to help you master ledger lines.
It includes a complete ledger lines chart that shows exactly how every single note on the piano can be notated using ledger lines in both the bass clef and the treble clef.
It also includes 4 separate diagrams that show ledger line notes above the treble clef, below the treble clef, above the bass clef, and below the bass clef.
You'll also find diagrams for ledger lines mnemonics and guide notes, worksheets to practice ledger lines, as well as a list of real pieces of music that will help you practice playing ledger lines on the piano.
Why do we need ledger lines?
We need ledger lines because the piano has such a wide range of pitches.
Without ledger lines, the grand staff can only represent 11 notes on the bass staff and 11 notes on the treble staff.
But, obviously, piano players and composers don’t limit themselves to only these 23 notes in the middle of the piano.
(Without ledger lines, we can't even represent middle C on the grand staff!)
So how do we represent the rest of the notes on the piano keyboard?
In theory, we could extend the grand staff to cover the entire range of the piano’s 88 keys. But then we’d end up with a completely overwhelming staff. (And a lot of wasted paper since only 1 or 2 lines of music would fit on a page!)
The image below shows the extended staff that would be necessary to represent every note on the piano. For context, I've left the brace on the left small enough to show the size of the standard grand staff.
To avoid this overwhelming extended staff, we use ledger lines!
Ledger lines allow us to extend the music staff only for those notes that need it.
So while ledger lines may be intimidating at first, they actually make our lives much easier by allowing us to use the much smaller and less overwhelming grand staff.
How many ledger lines are there?
Every single note on the piano keyboard can (in theory!) be represented on both the bass staff and the treble staff.
So in theory, there could be 82 ledger line notes (including the space notes immediately above and below each staff):
- 12 below the bass staff
- 29 above the bass staff
- 24 below the treble staff
- 17 above the treble staff.
But in practice, you’ll never see this. (Phew!)
In practice, you'll likely come across notes with up to up to 4 ledger lines above or below any music staff. On the grand staff, that works out to 32 ledger line notes in total (or 36 including the space notes immediately above and below each staff).
How many ledger lines should I learn?
In order to read and play music smoothly, we need to be able to look at the stacked ledger lines and “just know” how many lines there are without having to actually count them. (Like how you can recognize how many dots are on dice or dominos without actually counting them.)
This is why you'll probably never see more than 4 ledger lines stacked for any given note.
Since there are both line and space notes, 4 ledger lines allows us to notate 8 additional notes above or below a music staff.
Quite often, the space notes immediately above and below each staff are lumped in with ledger line notes, even though they don't actually involve any ledger lines.
So in total that gives you 36 ledger line notes you should learn:
- 9 ledger line notes below the bass staff (4 ledger lines)
- 9 ledger line notes above the bass staff (4 ledger lines)
- 9 ledger line notes below the treble staff (4 ledger lines)
- 9 ledger line notes above the treble staff (4 ledger lines)
But what about all the remaining keys on the piano that are not covered by these ledger lines?
How to Avoid Multiple Ledger Lines
Think about how many ledger lines would be needed to represent the highest and lowest notes on the piano.
No one wants to read notes with this many ledger lines!
But composers do write music that utilizes notes that are higher and lower on the piano than can be comfortably represented using ledger lines.
To make reading and notating music easier, we have the ottava and quindicesima symbols.
Ottava and ottava bassa symbols indicate that a note should be played 1 octave higher or lower than written.
Quindicesima symbols indicate that a note should be played 2 octaves higher or lower than written.
Using the ottava and quindicesima symbols, makes it possible to notate every note of the piano without having to use an excessive amount of ledger lines.
How to Read Ledger Lines Notes
So how do you actually read music on ledger lines?
The first step is to learn the theory behind figuring out the line and space notes on ledger lines, then you’ll be ready to learn strategies to read ledger line notes more quickly and efficiently.
Basically, ledger lines work exactly the same as the “regular” lines on the music staff:
- Each time you move up from a space to the line above it, or from a line to the space above it, you move up one key on the piano keyboard.
- And each time you move down from a space to the line below it, or from a line to the space below it, you move down one key on the piano keyboard.
For example, this note is a B.
How do we know it’s a B? And how do we know which B it is on the piano?
Any time you get stuck with an unfamiliar note on the music staff, your best bet is to use the nearest familiar note on the music staff as a point of reference.
In this case, that might be the high F on the top line of the treble staff.
So if you start on the high F, you can count up through the musical alphabet from there.
The next space is G, then the next line is A, then the next space is B. And as we count through the letter names for each note, we also count our way up the keys on the piano keyboard. This way we know that of all the Bs on the piano, this one is the one that is 4 notes above the F at the top of the grand staff.
Similarly, you can count the lines and spaces to figure out any ledger line note above or below any music staff.
It's important to understand that this is how ledger lines work. But obviously, taking the time to stop and decode every ledger line note like this would slow down your playing.
So once you understand how to read ledger lines, you want to focus on how to learn ledger lines in a way that allows you to read them more quickly so you can play them smoothly in your music.
How do you learn ledger lines on piano?
When it comes to learning how to read ledger lines quickly and easily on piano, there are 2 useful strategies: memorization with mnemonics; and guide notes.
My personal preference is always guide notes, but many learners find memorization with mnemonics helps. And having both strategies in your “piano tool chest” is always an advantage.
Using Mnemonics for Memorizing Ledger Lines
You may already be familiar with the 4 mnemonics many beginners use to read notes on the grand staff (FACE; Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge; All Cows Eat Grass; Great Big Dogs Fight Animals).
You can also create mnemonics for the ledger lines above and below the music staves! Below are some suggested mnemonics for ledger line notes above and below the treble and bass staves, but you can also create your own mnemonics if you prefer!
So where should you start?
Apart from middle C, you’re most likely to come across ledger lines above the treble staff and below the bass staff. So those will be the mnemonics you’ll want to learn first.
You will eventually come across ledger lines above the bass staff and below the treble staff as well. But composers will often avoid excessive ledger lines by simply changing the clef on the staff.
For example, if a composer wants you to play a section of music that would be written on ledger lines above the bass clef staff, they might instead simply change the lower staff to a treble clef. In this case, you would read the notes as the treble staff while playing them with your left hand.
Mnemonics for Ledger Lines and Spaces Above the Treble Staff
The ledger lines (and spaces) above the treble staff are easy because you can use mnemonics you already know!
The mnemonics used to memorize the lines and spaces of the bass staff can also be used to memorize the ledger lines (and spaces) above the treble staff–you just have to remember to switch them.
Line Notes on Ledger Lines Above the Treble Staff
The space notes of the bass staff follow the same order as the line notes on the ledger lines above the treble staff. So use the mnemonic “All Cows Eat Grass” for the line notes on ledger lines above the treble staff.
Space Notes on Ledger Lines Above the Treble Staff
The line notes of the bass staff follow the same order as the space notes above the treble staff. So use the mnemonic “Great Big Dogs Fight Animals” for the space notes above the treble staff.
Mnemonics for Ledger Lines and Spaces Below the Treble Staff
Aside from middle C and Treble D, ledger lines and spaces below the treble staff are really just the bass clef notes being represented on the treble staff.
But reading them can be a lot trickier because you’ll typically be counting the ledger lines as they move down away from the bottom of the treble staff… which means moving backwards through the alphabet.
So using mnemonics could be very helpful here!
Line Notes on Ledger Lines Below the Treble Staff
The ledger lines below the treble staff are C-A-F-D. You can use the mnemonic Cats Are Fed Daily to remember these notes.
Space Notes on Ledger Lines Below the Treble Staff
For the spaces between ledger lines below the treble staff, the notes are D-B-G-E-C. In keeping with the theme of dogs fighting animals, you can use the mnemonic Dogs Bite Giant Eagles Carefully.
Mnemonics for Ledger Lines and Spaces Above the Bass Staff
When using mnemonics for notes on ledger lines above the bass staff, you'll move upwards, away from the top of the bass staff. This means you'll be moving forward through the alphabet.
Line Notes on Ledger Lines Above the Bass Staff
For the line notes above the bass staff, the notes are C-E-G-B. You can use the mnemonic Cute Elephants Grow Big.
Space Notes on Ledger Lines Above the Bass Staff
For the spaces between ledger lines above the bass staff, the notes are B-D-F-A-C. You can use the mnemonic Birds Don't Fight Angry Cats.
Mnemonics for Ledger Lines and Spaces Below the Bass Staff
This is another case where you’ll typically be counting the ledger lines as they move away from the bottom of the staff, so you’ll be moving backwards through the alphabet.
Line Notes on Ledger Lines Below the Bass Staff
On the ledger lines below the bass staff, you have the notes E-C-A-F. You can use the mnemonic Eagles Can Always Fly.
Line Notes on Ledger Lines Below the Bass Staff
In the spaces between ledger lines below the bass staff, the notes are F-D-B-G-E. You can use the mnemonic Fearless Deer Boldly Go Everywhere.
Using Guide Notes to Read Ledger Lines
As you can see above, using mnemonics to read notes on ledger lines can become rather cumbersome. How many different mnemonics are you supposed to be able to keep track of in your brain?
Which is why I much prefer an intervallic approach to note reading. This involves using guide notes (or landmark notes) and intervals to read music.
With this approach, all you need to remember is that the second ledger line below the bass staff is C, and the second ledger line above the treble staff is C.
Then you can figure out the nearby notes from there.
For example, remember the example earlier when we counted up from high F to identify the B on ledger lines above the treble staff?
You can identify that B much more quickly and easily if you're familiar with the guide note C on the second ledger line above the treble staff. You can see very quickly that it's one step below the guide note C, which means it's a B.
Similarly, you can use the guide note C on the 2nd line below the bass staff to identify notes on ledger lines. The following example shows how you can quickly and easily identify the note A on the 3rd ledger line below the bass staff because it's one skip below the guide note C.
How do you practice ledger lines for piano?
The best way to practice ledger line notes is by playing many pieces of music that include ledger lines. You'll get lots of repetition recalling the ledger line notes, and you'll get to learn new pieces in the process!
You can also do practice drills using worksheets or even apps on your phone.
Sample Pieces of Music with Ledger Lines
Below is a list of beginner pieces that include ledger lines. If you're already confident reading and playing music on the grand staff and are ready to start practicing ledger lines, these pieces will be just what you need!
You can find all of these pieces in the Celebration Series Sixth Edition books by The Royal Conservatory of Music.
- The Wandering Ogre, by Mark Mrozinski – ledger lines below bass clef
- The Calico Cat, by Helen Marlais – ledger lines above and below the treble staff and the bass staff
- Oranges and Lemons, English Folk Song arr. by Boris Berlin – ledger lines above and below treble staff
- New Shoes, by Linda Niamath – ledger lines below treble staff and below bass staff
- Shadow Puppets, by Edward Han Jiang – ledger lines above and below treble staff and bass staff,and above treble staff in LEFT hand
- Paswewe “It Echoes”, by Barbara Assiginaak – ledger lines above and below treble staff and below bass staff
- Roda, by Oscar Lorenzo Fernandez – ledger lines below treble staff in LEFT hand
- Steampunk, by Diane Hidy -ledger lines above bass staff
- Celebration, by Anne Crosby Gaudet – ledger lines above and below bass staff and treble staff
- Beaver Boogie, by Stephen Chatman – ledger lines below bass staff
- Niimi Aandeg “Crow Dances”, by Barbara Assiginak – ledger lines below treble staff and bass staff
- March of the Terrible Trolls, by Linda Niamath – ledger lines above bass staff in right hand and below bass staff in left hand
- Mist, by Clifford Poole – ledger lines above and below bass staff, above treble staff, and below treble staff in LEFT hand
- The Snake, by Renee Christopher – ledger lines above bass staff
- A Cheerful Spirit, by Daniel Gottlob Turk – ledger lines above treble and bass staves
- German Dance in G Major, Hob. IX:12, no. 1, by Franz Joseph Haydn – ledger lines above treble and bass staves
- Prelude V, by Barbara Arens – ledger lines above treble staff and below bass staff
- The Merry-Go-Round, by Boris Berlin – ledger lines above treble and bass staves, and above treble staff in LEFT Hand
- The Waltz That Floated Away, by David L. McIntyre – ledger lines above and below treble and bass staves
- Periwinkle Twinkle, by Anne Crosby Gaudet – ledger lines above and below treble staff, below bass staff
- In a Canoe, by Pierre Gallant – ledger lines above bass staff
Best App for Practicing Ledger Line Notes
My favourite practice app for reading music is Note Rush.
It's a paid app, but it's worth every penny!
It's basically high-tech flash cards. It shows you one note at a time, then listens to see if you play it correctly on your piano. And it makes things fun by timing you and challenging you to earn stars based on how you score.
The best part of the app is that is makes sure you're not just reading the note correctly on the staff, but also locating it correctly on the piano.
It has a level dedicated entirely to ledger notes, so you can get some focused ledger line practice.
Worksheets for Practicing Ledger Line Notes
You can find ledger line worksheets (and so many more ledger line resources!) in my Ledger Lines Study Pack.