F Major - Research on Harmony - Variation 6

A blue-violet tension in the descent. Variation 6 descends from A6 to F2 in waltz time — seven notes, Lent — with Eb5 appearing as a blue-violet accent in the upper midrange. Eb is a half-step below the chord's fifth (E is not in F Major — F's fifth is C), but it registers as blue-violet, a cool chromatic color against the surrounding warm reds and yellows.

The descent opens at A6 (pale yellow-orange) and moves through the chord's warm colors on its way to the bass, with the blue-violet Eb5 providing a moment of cool tension mid-descent. Highlights dominate at 59%, the painting bright despite its descending shape — the pale upper register still weighs heavily.

Seven notes, flowing, slow waltz. Variation 6 is the densest descending étude in the series, its seven notes giving the fall a more fully inhabited quality than the spare four-note descending études. The blue-violet accent distinguishes it from all other descending shapes in F Major.