Lesson 1
The staff
Five lines, four spaces, and how pitch is written.
A ladder for pitch
Sheet music is written on a staff: five parallel lines with four spaces between them. Higher on the page is higher in pitch. Notes sit either on a line (the line runs through the notehead) or in a space (the notehead sits between two lines).
Ledger lines
When a note is too high or too low for the staff, short extra lines are drawn through it. These are ledger lines. Middle C sits on one ledger line below the treble staff — and one ledger line above the bass staff.