F Major - Research on Harmony - Variation 2

The series' one ascending étude. Variation 2 breaks from F Major's predominantly descending and arching shapes: Modéré (72 beats per minute), triple time, a waltz ascending from F1 to A6. Ten notes, with Ab5 appearing as a blue accent — the same blue-area chromaticism that Variation 1 introduced, now in a different register.

The articulation is normal rather than legato — notes touching each other without a sustained flow. This gives the ascending waltz a slightly more articulated quality, each pitch a little more distinct. The étude moves forward at a measured pace, neither the Lent meditation of most études nor the Animé energy of faster series.

Shadow, midtone, and highlight balance almost evenly here — a characteristic of ascending études that traverse the full tonal range from dark bass to bright peak. F1 (near-black) to A6 (pale red-violet): the only étude in the series that climbs and stops at the top rather than folding back.