E minor - Research on Harmony

The opening is the densest étude in the series — nine notes, descending waltz, from G6 to E1. The chord's full keyboard range is stated immediately, in triple time, Lent: G6 (light red-orange), B5 (yellow-green), G5, E5, G4, B3, E3, A#2 (violet), E1 (black). A single violet accent, A#2, sits near the bottom of the phrase.

The descent moves through three alternating pitch classes — G (red-orange family), E (yellow toward black), B (yellow-green) — with A#2's violet as the lone chromatic interruption before E1's final black. Seventy-two percent midtones; the palette stays balanced across the full descent.

The opening stakes the series' ambition: this is E minor expressed from G6 to E1 in a single waltz, nine notes, the chord fully inhabited from top to bottom before the variations begin their explorations.