Learning Objectives
- Examine how notes are placed on spaces and lines of the staff.
- Learn how the staff may be extended through the use of ledger lines.
The Staff II: Note Placement
Note Placement: High and Low
The principal purpose of the staff is to indicate how high or low a pitch is. Successively higher lines and spaces on the staff represent successively higher pitches. Similarly, as you descend on the staff, the pitches get lower. Listen carefully to the ascending and descending pitches in the example below.
Note Placement on the Staff
Ledger Lines
When five lines and four spaces are not enough to accommodate all of the pitches in a musical composition, short lines called ledger lines can be temporarily added above or below the staff. The purpose of these ledger lines is to extend the staff higher or lower.
For example, in the illustration below, ledger lines have been added to accommodate the pitches that move above or below the staff. The first two pitches (in gray) don't need ledger lines since they are already touching the staff. The rest of the ascending pitches require the addition of short, individual ledger lines above the staff to support them. Ledger lines can also be placed below the staff when pitches move too low, as is also illustrated in the example below (click "Show Me" to see this).
Ledger lines
Note that ledger lines are added to individual notes, and are never connected to each other. Also note that ledger lines are spaced out the same as regular staff lines, since their purpose is to extend the staff.
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Music Examples
As we learn more and more about staff notation, we will begin to look at examples of real music that illustrate new concepts. At this point, you may not understand what all of the symbols in this notation mean, so just focus on the aspects of notation currently under discussion: in this case, ledger lines. Click on the links below to see the notation examples. A vertical bar will move through the notation to help you follow along with the music.
This excerpt from the First Sea Interlude by British composer Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) illustrates the use of ledger lines above the staff.
Jimbo's Lullabyfrom Children's Corner, a collection of piano pieces by Claude Debussy (1862-1918), illustrates the use of ledger lines below the staff.