Skip to content
The Common ToneWhere the Sacred and the Profane Share the Same Cup
The Common Tone · Visual Language of Music
8va (Ottava) Line The characters 8va in italic type, the 8 large with small raised va following it.

8va (Ottava) Line

also called: 8va · ottava alta · octave line

The "8va" marking with a dashed line above the staff telling you to play everything under the line an octave higher than written.

What you do

Shift everything beneath the dashed line up one octave until the line ends (often marked "loco" — return to written pitch). Below the staff, "8vb" means the same thing an octave DOWN. It exists to spare you a blizzard of ledger lines, so thank it.

In context

8va (Ottava) Line — example Two engraved measures that sound the same. The first climbs high above the staff on ledger lines; the second shows the same contour written an octave lower beneath a dashed line marked with a small 8. Engraved by Verovio 6.2.1-8d42439
Both bars sound identical: the first writes the high passage at pitch, up in the ledger lines; the second writes it an octave lower under the dashed 8va line — play it an octave higher until the line ends. The marking exists to spare you the ledger blizzard.

Don’t confuse with

octave-clef
A small 8 attached to the CLEF itself (like the vocal tenor G-clef) transposes the whole staff for the entire piece; the 8va line is temporary and lasts only as long as its dashed line.

See also

octave-clef · loco

For specialists

SMuFL: ottavaAlta
Record status: draft — verification pending (bookshelf locators + chord-symbol authority; OQ-1 blocks the slice gate)