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18.3 · The Staff

Middle C & ledger lines

Music doesn't stop at the staff's edges, so the staff grows on demand. Short strokes called ledger lines extend it one note at a time. The most famous ledger note of all sits one line below the staff: middle C, the C4 at the center of the keyboard.

Meet middle C

One little line below the staff, with the notehead sitting right through it. Below it, D walks up to E, the bottom line.

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Same trick above: G5 floats just over the top line, and A5 needs its own ledger line.

The full range, live

This sketchpad now reaches from middle C up to ledger-line A. Tap below the staff and watch the little lines appear.

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Tap low for ledger lines below, high for ledger lines above.

Quiz · Name that note

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One ledger line below the staff, notehead through the line. What is it?

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