Ab Major - Research on Harmony - Variation 4

Seven notes played Animé, mp, legato, in four — an inverted bell, the phrase dipping from Ab1 down through Ab2 and C3 before rising through Eb4 to Ab5 and C6. A valley contour, the line sinking into the bass before climbing back. The full triad is present: root, third, fifth, each appearing at least once. The most complete chord statement since the opening study.

Blue dominates the mid-register where Ab4 and Ab5 spread wide fields of cool, oceanic color — the root at its most characteristic. Below, the bass compresses to near-black. Red burns at C3 in the lower middle, the third's warmth concentrated in a single band. Blue-violet appears at Eb4, the fifth adding its signature violet between root and third. At C6, the red fades to pale warmth.

The most balanced variation in the series. Root in blue, third in red, fifth in blue-violet — each chord tone in its native hue, the triad rendered whole and proportioned.