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 chromesthetic 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.