How Insensitive by Antônio Carlos Jobim

Overview

Key: D minor · Chords used: 18 · Sections: 4

Form: Intro → Intro → A Section → B Section

Where these chords come from: a chord chart of this song written by a musician and shared on the iReal Pro forums, archived in the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). It's one musician's reading of the song, not a transcription checked against the recording. This page shows that chart as-is: the analysis below is generated directly from it by code, not written by AI. Consecutive repeats of a chord are shown once, and the piano voicings are our playable arrangement of each chord symbol, not a note-for-note transcription.

Section by section

Intro 1

• Dm7 – G7♯11 (×2)
  i7 – IV7#11

Intro 2

Same chords as Intro 1.

A Section

• Dm – C♯dim7 – Cm6 – G7/B – B♭maj7 – E♭maj7♯11 – Em7♭5 – A7♭9 – Dm – D♭7
  i – vii°7 – bvii6 – IV⁶₅ – bVImaj7 – bIImaj7#11 – iiø7 – V7b9 – i – bI7

B Section

• Cm6 – F7 – Bdim7 – B♭maj7 – Em7♭5 – A7♭9 – Dm – D♭7 – Cm7 – F7 – Bm7 – E7♭9 – B♭maj7 – A7♭9 – Dm – Bm7♭5 – Em7♭5 – A7♯9 – Dm – Bm7♭5 – B♭maj7 – A7♯9 – Dm – G7♯11
  bvii6 – bIII7 – vi°7 – bVImaj7 – iiø7 – V7b9 – i – bI7 – bvii7 – bIII7 – vi7 – II7b9 – bVImaj7 – V7b9 – i – viø7 – iiø7 – V7#9 – i – viø7 – bVImaj7 – V7#9 – i – IV7#11

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Dm7	i7	Home chord (tonic)	Intro
G7♯11	IV7#11	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, B Section
Dm	i	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, B Section
C♯dim7	vii°7	In the key	A Section
Cm6	bvii6	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section
G7/B	IV⁶₅	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
B♭maj7	bVImaj7	In the key	A Section, B Section
E♭maj7♯11	bIImaj7#11	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Em7♭5	iiø7	In the key	A Section, B Section
A7♭9	V7b9	In the key	A Section, B Section
D♭7	bI7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section
F7	bIII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Bdim7	vi°7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Cm7	bvii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Bm7	vi7	Borrowed from D major	B Section
E7♭9	II7b9	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Bm7♭5	viø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
A7♯9	V7#9	In the key	B Section

Harmonic highlights

• Bm7 (vi7) is borrowed from the parallel key, D major.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “How Insensitive” (credited “Jobim Antonio-Carlos”, style Bossa Nova) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata.
• Section names: from the chart's own markings: section names written on the chart (Intro, Verse, Chorus…) are kept, and rehearsal letters are shown as “A Section”, “B Section” and so on (the B of an AABA song is called the Bridge).
• Cross-check: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “How Insensitive” (credited “Jobim Antonio-Carlos”, style Bossa Nova) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 89%).
• Chord charts are often written in a key that suits a particular singer or band, so this may not be the key of the original recording.
• Verified: two community charts of this song, posted in different forum threads, agree on its harmony. They're still charts, not transcriptions checked against the recording.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.