Ab Major 9 - Research on Harmony - Variation 5

Six notes — the sparsest variation. Ab1, Bb2, C4, Eb4, G4, C5. Played Animé, mp, legato, in four — the valley dipping to Ab1 before returning. Every chord tone is present exactly once: root, ninth, third, fifth, seventh, third again. The middle register is compact — C4, Eb4, G4 sit within a single octave, the third, fifth, and seventh gathered close.

Blue-black at Ab1 grounds the bass. Violet at Bb2 holds the ninth low and dark. Then the chord opens: red at C4, blue-violet at Eb4, red-orange at G4 — three colors in three adjacent notes, the harmonic-chromatic translation of the major ninth laid out in miniature. Red warms again at C5, the third closing the phrase.

The most balanced étude in the series — no single color dominates, root and ninth and third and fifth and seventh each claiming their own space. The chord complete at its most economical, six notes holding the entire harmony.