How Insensitive analysis

[neueliteratur]

Hello folks,

Today I saw the chord progression for How Insensitive, and it's freaking me out.

WTF is going on???

D-7 C#dim
C-6 G7

Bbmaj7 Ebmaj7
Ehalfdim A7 D-7 Db7

C-7 Bdim
Bbmaj7 Ehalfdim A7 D-7 Db7

C-9 F7 B-7 E7
Bbmaj7 A7 D-7

The D minor 2-5-1 is all I see.

Apart from that, it's a big chaos for me.

Especially the dominant 7th chords that don't resolve to the tonics:

G7 -> Bbmaj7
F7 -> B-7
E7 -> Bbmaj7

Does anybody have a link to a neat analysis of this piece?

[BLynx]

(deleted)

[Ogg Vorbis]

Tri-tone subs, interrupted cadences, abrupt modulations...
Jobim - very advanced chord-fu.

[wrench45us]

it may also be helpful to look at these chord changes based on shared notes

the tritone shares two notes with the 'expected' chord -- which is one idea why the tritone substitution 'works'

and things like the G7 to Bbmaj7 share the two notes d and f and drop the G's 3rd to minor (aka as borrowing a chord from the related (G) minor using biii or bvi) -- do that from a G9 and you can get 3 notes shared including the A -- so as I've come to learn what may look odd on the page sometimes means not moving all that many fingers on the keyboard and plays a lot smoother than it looks and/or initially computes

[neueliteratur]

OK, here goes my new attempt at the analysis.

D-7 C#dim C-6 G7

ii Vsubs i V

in C minor.

I didn't know tritone substitution chords could be diminished chords. (I thought they were either seventh or major seventh)

Bbmaj7 Ebmaj7 Ehalfdim A7 D-7 Db7

I IV in Bb
ii V i IVsubs in D minor

We have a Bbmaj7 where I would've expected a Cmaj7 or C-7.
Is this what you call interrupted cadences?

And I guess the modulation to Bb from C- sounds good because they're neighbour keys? (3 flats to 3 flats)

C-7 Bdim Bbmaj7 Ehalfdim A7 D-7 Db7

ii V I in Bb
ii V I IVsubs in D-.

C-9 F7 B-7 E7 Bbmaj7 A7 D-7

ii V in Bb
ii V in A
iisubs V i in D-

I FEEL SO GOOD

[Ogg Vorbis]

ii V in Bb
ii V in A
iisubs V i in D-

I FEEL SO GOOD

Good work. The part quoted above is what I would call "interrupted" because instead of going to the expected cadence, it sets up a brand new cadence.

The rest of it you've identified looks like a plausible analysis. The chromatic downward stuff can be looked at in terms of tri-tone subs, but on the other hand, I might argue that it is a "coloristic" chromatic root progression rather than a functional progression.

However, most of the harmonies are very functional and teleological. Not a lot of "fluff" that's for sure.

[Aroused by JarJar]

The chromatic downward stuff can be looked at in terms of tri-tone subs, but on the other hand, I might argue that it is a "coloristic" chromatic root progression rather than a functional progression.
.

And you'd be able to argue very convincingly, because its an example of "textbook" (literally) harmony via chromatic voice leading rather than vice versa. And you "must" approach it this way, consciously or not, with say a wind ensemble, otherwise you're going to have serious intonation problems.

[beboop]

OK, here goes my new attempt at the analysis.

D-7 C#dim C-6 G7

ii Vsubs i V

in C minor.

I didn't know tritone substitution chords could be diminished chords. (I thought they were either seventh or major seventh)

no, that's not a ii-V-i, even if you interpret the chord symbol notation literally.

The Dm7 is im7, C#dim7 can be interpreted as a V7b9 sub but it's V7 of Dm, not Cm. You're in the key of D minor -- sometimes these things can be ambiguous, but here it's pretty cut-and-dried, the key is D minor.

C#dim isn't a tritone sub that resolves to C, minor or major. Bdim, or one of its enharmonic namings, could be a tritone sub into C -- the 'tritone' involved is B-F. Diminished seventh chords make great tritone subs, but only when they contain the right tritone.

"Tritone substitution" is a badly abused term in the world of the web forum. It's a really simple, useful idea: where you have a functioning V7 chord, other chords containing the same tritone might be useful as a substitute. And that's it, that's all there is to it. Just a bit of shorthand for improvisors and arrangers, about on the level of "i before e, except after c".

Are you trying to 'analyze' stuff by just looking at chord charts? That's not gonna lead you anywhere useful. You have to learn the tune. Chord symbol notation is another great shorthand that's incredibly useful if you know what's behind it, how to interpret it, but pretty much worthless if you take it literally.

Learn the tune, that'll make you feel even better. The Chopin is prelude no. 4 in E minor.

[Musicologo]

I'll second beboop on that:

Dm7 = D,F,A,C
C#Dim = C#,E,G
Cm6 = C,Eb,G,A, in fact is A,C,Eb,G = A7b5

So your progression is in fact in Dm and it is i - vii0 - V7...

[tradivoro]

You guys may also want to look at Chopin's Prelude in E minor to see where the inspiration for How Insensitive came from... And listen to the original recording by Jobim, you will hear inversions in the bass, just like in Chopin...