The reading courseLesson 13 of 13 · Level 7
Far ledger lines
Read up to five ledger lines above and below, and notes written in the other hand's clef.
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The far ledger-line notes above the treble staff and below the bass staff, and the notes written in the other clef.
At the top and bottom of the keyboard, ledger lines pile up. Above the treble staff, G is on the fourth ledger line, B on the fifth and C above it, two octaves over treble C. Below the bass staff, F is on the fourth and D on the fifth, with the lowest C under it.
Don't count from the staff. Find the nearest landmark, high C on two ledger lines or low C on two below, and read on from there: each further ledger line is a 3rd beyond the last. Many editions write these notes an octave lower with 8va over them (play an octave higher), or higher with 8vb, to spare the lines.
A hand sometimes reaches into the other staff's clef: the left hand climbing to F and G on ledger lines above the bass staff, or the right hand down to G under two ledger lines below the treble. Read them in their own clef, from middle C on its first ledger line.
Pieces this lesson opens
Pieces in the library that read as ready once you know everything up to this lesson, and didn't before it.
- The Virtuoso Pianist, No. 40Charles-Louis Hanonlevel 6
- Solfeggietto in C minorCarl Philipp Emanuel Bachlevel 5
- Pathétique Sonata: IILudwig van BeethovenRight-hand melody · level 5