HOW INSENSITIVE MASTERCLASS - CLOVIS NICOLAS

1) THE FORM

In order to remember the song, to play it and to transpose it in all keys, I need to analyse its
form and the relationship between the melody and the chord progression (the bass line). For
me How Insensitive sounds like a song deeply rooted in a minor key, with a few key points and
turns that help give the song a shape.
I compare this to a neighborhood - in that case the neighborhood is D minor - with some red
lights and stop signs to be aware of: go to the bVI major, go back to I, use a different street for
the end…

I divided this song in 4 sections of 8 bars each and I can describe each one as follow, a little bit
like driving instructions:

A: start on I minor and go down chromatically with the bass, in a similar fashion that “Just one
of those things,” up until the VI -7b5 chord.

B: start on bVI major, go to bII major, then 2-5 back to I minor, get ready to go one step down.

C: start with a nice -11 chord on bVII degree, two successive 2-5 to get to bVI major, then 2-5
back to I minor.

D: very similar to C, except that one note change in the melody. When we get to bVI degree it's
a long 2-5 back to I minor.

2) THE MELODY

Then I do a similar analysis of the melody and I use my ears to identify the sound and the
relationship with the harmony. I think about the context of the neighborhood, which is the
minor key we’re in with the “landmarks” of each part of the neighborhood (the fifth, the third,
back to the root…)

A: we start on the 5th and stay around there, and finish on the 4th of the main key.

B: the 4th become the 6th of that new chord, then turns into a beautiful consonant 3rd of a
new chord, and finish on the 3rd of the main key.

C: the 3rd becomes the 4th of that new chord, stays there to be the b5 of the next chord, then
moves around to finish on the 3rd of the main key.

D: again, the 3rd becomes the 4th of that new chord, then moves 1/2 step down to being the
4th of the next chord, then moves around to finish on 2 going to 1 of the main key.

This gives me the big picture of the song. We can see that the melody starts on the 5th in (A),
then goes to the 4th in (B), then to the 3rd in (C) and from the 3rd back to the root in (D).
Very simple! Just the minor scale coming down, with harmonic embellishments along the way.
3) THE PRACTICE

Now that I know what’s going on, I need to get used to the sound of the tune. This is when I
play or sing the melody over the bass line many times, until it gets familiar. Then I start to
transpose it in different keys, starting with the easier keys:
A minor, G minor, C minor, E minor, F minor….

By doing that, I focus more on the form and the shape of the song, rather than the scales to
apply for each chord. This will help me always hear the form first, the important notes that
indicate turns or changes, before getting too technical and “in my brain.”

After I am comfortable in a couple keys, playing the bass line, singing the melody, playing the
melody, I start to improvise on the song. Then, I realize that I can do it more intuitively and get
by, without knowing all the details of the chords and scales.
Louis Armstrong used to say: “Play the melody one chorus, play it again the second chorus,
play it with some embellishments the third chorus, and improvise your solo on the last chorus.”

4) THE SCALES

Now let’s address a couple points in the song that could use some clarification:

A section:
- First chord D- : I like to leave it open regarding the 6th and the 7th because both natural and
minor work, depending on the note you’re coming from and the one you’re going to. I usually
use a mix of melodic and harmonic minor.
- Second chord A7/C# : we’re still in D- with emphasis on the V chord.
- Third chord C-6 : for phrasing I like to think of minor 6 chords as dominant chords and in this
case it is F7 with the 5th on bass, so I use either C-6 scale or F7 scale.
- Fourth chord B -7b5: I think of half diminished chords as dominants with the third on the
bass, in that case G7/B, so I will use G7 scale.
My A section for soloing is now:
D- A7 F7 G7

B section:
In that section, I am more or less in D minor, with a couple of alterations. The most important
one is the second chord Ebmaj, which is the Neapolitan chord (bII major), very often found in
minor keys. But the rest is straight forward. I will make sure to outline that bII major.

C section:
Here there are a succession of deceptive cadences. A 2-5 in Bb that doesn’t resolve, which is
followed by a 2-5 in A- that doesn’t resolve either. I like to treat them as if they’re going to
resolve and I make my melodic line deceptive in the same fashion that the harmony is.

D section:
Very similar to the C section, except that I consider the last 4 bars a long 2-5-1 in the original
key. A long 2-5-1 is a clear indication that the song is going to end soon.

I attached below some PDFs of the song that outline some of the major key points, things to
hear and to remember in order to play this song easily.
Thank you for reading!

Clovis
 How Insensitive
q = 100
Minor bass line chromatically down from root to 6th A. C. Jobim
« Just one of those things »
A D- A7/C©
4 j j j j j j j j
&b 4 w œ œ œ œ œ œ w œ œ œ œ œ œ

5 C-6 3
BØ7
œ nœ bœ œ œ™ j
&b ˙ œ #œ œ J J J
œ™ œ ˙ w
bVI Major, Finish on i minor
9 B B¨² E¨²
j j j j j j j j
&b w œ œ œ œ œ œ w œ œ œ œ œ œ

13 EØ7 A7(b 9) D-11

j
Ϫ
3 3
j
&b ˙ œ #œ œ œ bœ œ œ œ™ œ ˙ w
Start one step down from key, go to bVI, end on i minor
17 C C-11 F7 BØ7 E7(b 9)
j j j j j j j j
&b w œ œ œ œ œ œ w œ œ œ œ œ œ

21 B¨² EØ7 A7(b 9) D-7 D¨7

& b ˙™ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ ˙ w
Start one step down from key, long 2-5 to end on i minor (similar than C with different melody)
25 D C-11 F7 B-11 E7(b 9)

&b w j j j j j j j j
œ œ œ œ œ œ w œ œ œ œ œ œ

29 G-6/B¨ EØ7 A7(# 5) D- EØ7 A7(b 9)

3 j
&b ˙ œ #œ œ œ™ bœ œ œ œ™
j
œ ˙
∑
 How Insensitive
q = 100 MELODY GUIDELINES
A. C. Jobim

A D- A7/C©
4 j j j j j j j j
&b 4 w œ œ œ œ œ œ w œ œ œ œ œ œ
melody on 5

5 C-6 3
BØ7
œ nœ bœ œ œ™ j
&b ˙ œ #œ œ J J J
œ™ œ ˙ w
melody on 6th

9 B B¨² E¨²
j j j j j j j j
&b w œ œ œ œ œ œ w œ œ œ œ œ œ
melody on 6th melody on 3rd

13 EØ7 A7(b 9) D-11

j
Ϫ
3 3
j
&b ˙ œ #œ œ œ bœ œ œ œ™ œ ˙ w
melody on 4-3

17 C C-11 F7 BØ7 E7(b 9)

j j j j j j j j
&b w œ œ œ œ œ œ w œ œ œ œ œ œ
melody on 4 melody on b5

21 B¨² EØ7 A7(b 9) D-7 D¨7

& b ˙™ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ ˙ w

25 D C-11 F7 B-11 E7(b 9)

&b w j j j j j j j j
œ œ œ œ œ œ w œ œ œ œ œ œ
melody on 4 melody on 4
29 G-6/B¨ EØ7 A7(# 5) D- EØ7 A7(b 9)
3 j
&b ˙ œ #œ œ œ™ bœ œ œ œ™
j
œ ˙
∑
melody back to 2, finish on 1