# Ledger line

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Musical notation for pitches outside the regular staff

For other uses, see [Ledger line (tombstone)](/source/Ledger_line_(tombstone)).

Ascending Es and Bs. The first two notes and the last two notes require ledger lines.

A **ledger line** or **leger line** is used in Western [musical notation](/source/Musical_notation) to notate [pitches](/source/Pitch_(music)) above or below the lines and spaces of the regular [musical staff](/source/Musical_staff). A line slightly longer than the note head is drawn parallel to the staff, above or below, spaced at the same distance as the lines within the staff.

The origin of the word is uncertain, but may have been borrowed attributively from the term for a horizontal timber in a [scaffolding](/source/Scaffolding), lying parallel to the face of the building and supporting the [putlogs](/source/Putlog). There is no basis to support the often-found claim that the word originates from the French *léger*, meaning "light" or "slight".[1] The Oxford online dictionary describes the origin of the "leger" spelling as a "variant of ledger" that first appeared in the 19th century.[2]

Although ledger lines are found occasionally in manuscripts of [plainchant](/source/Plainchant) and early [polyphony](/source/Polyphony), it was only in the early 16th century in keyboard music that their use became at all extensive.[3] Even then, printers had an aversion to ledger lines which caused difficulties in setting type, wasting space on the page and causing a messy appearance. Vocal music employed a variety of different clefs to keep the range of the part on the staff as much as possible; in keyboard notation a common way of avoiding ledger lines was the use of [open score](/source/Open_score) on four staves with different [clefs](/source/Clef).[4]

Except for woodwind players, who prefer ledger lines to *[8va](/source/Octave#Notation)* notation because they associate fingerings with staff positions ([Shatzkin 1993](#CITEREFShatzkin1993), 48), notes that use at least four ledger lines make music more difficult to read.[5] For easier readability, the composer would usually switch [clefs](/source/Clefs) or use the *[8va](/source/Octave)* notation. Some [transposing instruments](/source/Transposing_instrument), such as the [piccolo](/source/Piccolo), [double bass](/source/Double_bass), [guitar](/source/Guitar), and the [tenor voice](/source/Tenor_voice), transpose at the octave to avoid ledger lines.

Notation of [tuba](/source/Tuba), [trombone](/source/Trombone), and [euphonium](/source/Euphonium) parts always uses ledger lines below the bass staff, and never the *[8va bassa](/source/8vb)* notation.[6]

The two inside ledger lines. From the third ledger line on, the lines and spaces of the regular musical staff are repeated.

Music for [bass clef](/source/Bass_clef) instruments, such as the cello, [bassoon](/source/Bassoon) or trombone, use [tenor clef](/source/Tenor_clef) for the high notes rather than the [treble clef](/source/Treble_clef). [Alto clef](/source/Alto_clef) is used for the [viola](/source/Viola), the [alto trombone](/source/Alto_trombone), and for the tenor trombone parts in Russian repertoire. [Bass trombone](/source/Bass_trombone) and tuba use the bass clef only.[7]

A ledger line is also used to support a [half rest](/source/Half_note) or [whole rest](/source/Whole_note) where there are multiple voices on one staff and such a rest is forced above or below the staff. (The rare [double whole rest](/source/Double_whole_note) is suspended between two ledger lines in this situation.)

## References

### Citations

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [OED 2005](#CITEREFOED2005)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [Oxford Living Dictionary n.d.](#CITEREFOxford_Living_Dictionaryn.d.)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [Anon. 2001](#CITEREFAnon.2001)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [Godwin 1974](#CITEREFGodwin1974), pp. 16–17

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Bauer, Helen (2009). *Young People's Guide to Classical Music*. Hal Leonard. p. 20. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781574671810](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781574671810).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [Read 1969](#CITEREFRead1969), p. 354

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Gould, Elaine (2016). *[Behind Bars: The Definitive Guide to Music Notation](/source/Behind_Bars%3A_The_Definitive_Guide_to_Music_Notation)*. Faber Music Limited. p. 262. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780571590032](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780571590032).

### Sources

- Anon. 2001. "Leger [Ledger] Line". *The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians*, second edition, edited by [Stanley Sadie](/source/Stanley_Sadie) and [John Tyrrell](/source/John_Tyrrell_(musicologist)). London: Macmillan Publishers.

- Godwin, Joscelyn. 1974. "Playing from Original Notation". *Early Music* 2, no. 1 (January): 15–19.

- Oxford English Dictionary. 2005. ["Ledger, n.B.I.3"](https://www.oed.com/search/dictionary/?q=Ledger%2C+n.B.I.3). *[Oxford English Dictionary](/source/Oxford_English_Dictionary)* (online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or [participating institution membership](https://www.oed.com/public/login/loggingin#withyourlibrary) required.)

- Oxford Living Dictionary (n.d.). ["leger line"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160927081755/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/leger_line). *Oxford Living Dictionaries*. Oxford University Press. Archived from [the original](https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/leger_line) on September 27, 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2017.

- [Read, Gardner](/source/Gardner_Read). 1969. *Music Notation: A Manual of Modern Practice*, second edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Reprinted, New York: Taplinger Publishing Company, 1979.

- Shatzkin, Merton. 1993. *Writing for the Orchestra: An Introduction to Orchestration*. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780139534317](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780139534317).

v t e Musical notation Staff 8va 15ma Abbreviation Bar Clef Da capo Dal segno Key signature Ledger line Mode Ossia Scale Rehearsal letter Repeat sign Tempo Time signature Transposition Transposing instrument Musical notes Accidental flat natural sharp Cue note Dotted note Grace note Note value beam Notehead stem Pitch Rest Tacet Tuplet Tremolo Interval Helmholtz pitch notation Letter notation Scientific pitch notation Articulation Accent Caesura Damping Dynamics Fermata Fingering Legato Marcato Ornament Appoggiatura Glissando Grace note Mordent Portamento Slide Trill Portato Slur Staccato Tenuto Tie Tonguing Chords Chord chart Chord diagram Figured bass Lead sheet Sheet music History of music publishing Music engraving Music publisher Scorewriter Other systems Ancient Greek Braille music Chinese Ekphonetic Eye music Gamelan Graphic notation Klavarskribo Kunkunshi Mensural notation Nashville Number System Neume Numbered musical notation Parsons Percussion notation Shakuhachi Shape note Simplified Tablature Swaralipi Znamenny Related Music stand Perfect pitch Sight-reading Transcription List of musical symbols Category:Musical notation

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