Ledger lines · Notes and the staff · Music theory
Notes that do not fit on the staff are written on short lines, above or below it, just for that note: ledger lines. They are read the same way, as if the…
Ledger lines
Notes that do not fit on the staff are written on short lines, above or below it, just for that note: ledger lines. They are read the same way, as if the staff carried on.
With more than three or four, reading gets hard: then the clef changes or the music is marked 8va, which makes what is written sound an octave higher (8va bassa, an octave lower).
How far to go
Ledger lines get harder to read the more there are, and beyond three or four another solution is usually better. The sign 8va above the notes means they sound an octave higher than written; below the notes, 8vb, an octave lower. Loco cancels it. You can also change clef.
A piano spans A0 to C8: almost eight octaves no single staff could write without these aids, which is why it uses two joined staves, with a different clef on each.