The

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The Ledger Line Story
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Hello everyone, Im Mrs. Glockenspiel. I teach at
the Land of Music Elementary School. Now that you
know the names of the lines and spaces of the
Treble Clef, its time to step out into the space
above and below the Treble Clef staff.
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Did you know that sometimes the Note Family must
build special short lines or steps above and
below the songhouse staff? These are called
ledger lines. They help the notes make higher and
lower sounds. Its sort of like the houses in the
Land of People that have steps going up high on
the roof or down low into the basement.
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Here, Willie has made one step above the top
line. This line has a name and so does the space
under it. You can find out what their names are
by remembering the Note Familys musical
alphabet. Whats the name of the top line of the
treble staff? F is right. What comes after F in
the Note Familys musical alphabet? G. So the
space in-between the top line and our ledger line
is called G.
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What comes after G in the musical alphabet?
Remember, the musical alphabet stops at G and
then repeats itself. So the next letter is A, and
thats the name of this first ledger line above
the staff A.
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Now we need to name the ledger lines below the
treble staff. To do that, we have to go backward
in our musical alphabet. Here is our bottom line
called E. What comes before E in the musical
alphabet? D is right. This space under E is
called D. What comes before D? This line is
called C.
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Here is our Grand Staff. The ledger line in the
middle of the two staffs is called middle C. Its
a very important pitch, so remember it. Its the
first little ledger line under the Treble Clef or
above the Bass Clef.