Editing Ledger line (section)

{{Short description|Musical notation}}
{{other uses|Ledger line (tombstone)}}{{Image frame|content=<score> {
\override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f
{
    \relative c {
        \time 4/4
        e8 b' e b' e b' e4 
    }
} }
</score>|width=190|caption=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]] to notate [[Pitch (music)|pitches]] above or below the lines and spaces of the regular [[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]], lying parallel to the face of the building and supporting the [[putlog]]s. There is no basis to support the often-found claim that the word originates from the French ''léger'', meaning "light" or "slight" {{harv|OED|2005}}. The Oxford online dictionary describes the origin of the "leger" spelling as a "variant of ledger" that first appeared in the 19th century {{harv|Oxford Living Dictionary|n.d.}}.

Although ledger lines are found occasionally in manuscripts of [[plainchant]] and early [[polyphony]], it was only in the early 16th century in keyboard music that their use became at all extensive {{harv|Anon.|2001}}. 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]] on four staves with different [[Clef|clefs]] {{harv|Godwin|1974|loc=16–17}}.

Except for woodwind players, who prefer ledger lines to ''[[Octave#Notation|8<sup>va</sup>]]'' notation because they associate fingerings with staff positions {{harv|Shatzkin|1993|loc=48}}, notes that use at least four ledger lines make music more difficult to read.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bauer|first=Helen|title=Young People's Guide to Classical Music|publisher=Hal Leonard|year=2009|isbn=9781574671810|pages=20|language=english}}</ref> For easier readability, the composer would usually switch [[clefs]] or use the ''[[octave|8<sup>va</sup>]]'' notation. Some [[transposing instrument]]s, such as the [[piccolo]], [[double bass]], [[guitar]], and the [[tenor voice]], transpose at the octave to avoid ledger lines.

Notation of [[tuba]], [[trombone]], and [[euphonium]] parts always uses ledger lines below the bass staff, and never the ''[[8vb|8<sup>va</sup> bassa]]'' notation {{harv|Read|1969|loc=354}}.

Music for bass clef instruments, such as the cello, [[bassoon]] or trombone, use tenor clef for the high notes rather than the treble clef. Alto clef is used for the [[alto trombone]], and for the tenor trombone parts in Russian repertoire. [[Bass trombone]] and tuba use the bass clef only.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gould|first=Elaine|title=[[Behind Bars: The Definitive Guide to Music Notation]]|publisher=Faber Music Limited|year=2016|isbn=9780571590032|pages=262|language=english}}</ref>

A ledger line is also used to support a [[half note|half rest]] {{music|halfrest}} or [[whole note|whole rest]] {{music|wholerest}} where there are multiple voices on one staff and such a rest is forced above or below the staff. (The rare [[double whole note|double whole rest]] is suspended between two ledger lines in this situation.)

[[File:Ledger line.svg|thumb|The two inside ledger lines. From the third ledger line on, the lines and spaces of the regular musical staff are repeated.]]