Jared E Davis: “Atonal Improvisation and Jazz” Techniques Explained

Posted on August 11, 2026August 11, 2026 by Modern Music Theory and Application

Jared E Davis Atonal Improvisation and Jazz music examples and analysis

Please watch video above for detailed info:

Hi Guys,

Today, a quick look at “Atonal improvisation and jazz” book by Jared E Davis.

Atonal Jazz analysis with examples from webpage — Jared E Davis Atonal Improvisation and Jazz

Please note: This Blog won’t contain a Pdf download due to any copyright infringement.

PART 1:

Jared’s book, is similar in some ways to John ‘O’ Gallagher’s book 12 tone improvisation

Screenshot 2026-08-07 at 18.34.23 — 12 tone improvisation book John ‘O’ Gallagher

But, also differs due to being atonal [interval pairs] and not 12 tone.

BASIC PROCEDURE:

This concept works with the 12 chromatic notes.

So, for example if we were to start on the note C it would be,

C=O C#=1 D=2 D#/Eb=3 E=4 F=5 etc.

Resulting in a minor 3rd =3 or a Major 7th = 11 or Unison = 0 etc.

We are just counting the minor 2nds/semitones as in the chart below:

CHART:

Jared E Davis Atonal Improvisation and Jazz

What to be aware of:

If we were to have singular intervals like 11111 etc, we would end up with a chromatic scale:

Or, for example, 3333 we would end up with Diminished 7ths:

Below, is a list of techniques explained:

In this blog in order to avoid any copyright infringements I am going to look at interval pairs in the main.

Etude 1-6

Exercise in “Interval Pairs”

In order to get really fluid with this it’s a great idea to write an etude.

But, before we can do this we need to learn/practice an etude already prepared.

So, in this case I am going to take one from the book which consists of the interval pair 1-6

In this example we will master 1= minor 2nd and 6= Tritone

EXAMPLE:

From the example above we can see our interval pair of 1-6 in action.

Notice also, where there =1 it can be inverted to/create octave displacement.

Example of Atonal Improvisation and jazz book by Jared E Davis. Musical examples and demos with music theory analysis. Complete lesson for atonal improvisational music techniques.

Below, is the full etude that I have starting on a down stroke for strict alternate picking.

Full Etude:

An example of tonal Improvisation and jazz book by Jared E Davis. Musical examples and demos with music theory analysis. Complete lesson for atonal improvisational music techniques.

Atonal Improvisation and jazz book by Jared E Davis. Musical examples and demos with music theory analysis. Complete lesson for atonal improvisational music techniques.

TRI-CHORDS

We can also build some amazing chords from atonal techniques.

I am going to look at a couple of Tri-Chords. [Although, we can create, tetrachords and pentachords etc].

EXAMPLE 1: “016“

Below we have the “Retrograde” of the above: “056”

ii V7 I Example

Let’s now apply this to a ii V7 I cadence:

Again, sticking to our minor 2nd and tritone 1-6 interval pairs from our Etude:

ii V7 I Atonal Improvisation and jazz book by Jared E Davis. Musical examples and demos with music theory analysis. Complete lesson for atonal improvisational music techniques. — Jared E Davis Atonal Improvisation and Jazz ii V7 I 1-6 Cadence Example

2 SCHOENBERG EXAMPLES

Lastly, here is a couple of real life examples by the great composer Arnold Schoenberg.

Interval Pair 1-5 [Perfect 4th and minor 2nd]:

Finally, we have interval pairs 3-4

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John McLaughlin Pentatonic Guitar Concepts part 1:

Posted on December 13, 2025 by Modern Music Theory and Application

Please watch video above for detailed info:

Hi Guys,

Today, a quick look at John McLaughlin’s use of the pentatonic scale.

PART 1:

To begin with, it is a good idea to map out the fretboard of the guitar with an arpeggio.

This way we can ascertain where the different positions are.

Now that we have this, let’s connect two positions together:

John McLaughlin sheet music depicting a guitar piece with notes and highlighted sections. Two distinct sections are marked with colored circles and arrows. — Diagram illustrating a guitar fretboard connecting pentatonic scale positions.

Moving up, we have this interesting scale combination:

Music sheet illustrating John McLaughlin's pentatonic scale with notes labeled for minor third, major third, tone, and semitone. — Musical notation demonstrating the McLaughlin pentatonic scale with highlighted intervals.

Finally, we have another pentatonic combination at the end of the octave:

A musical score showing notes and tablature for guitar, illustrating the pentatonic scale.

PART 2: CREATING COLOUR:

In order to create some magic, John McLaughlin naturally colours the phrase by adding a magic note.

In this example it is the E natural sliding down a semitone to E flat.

Also, the Eb moving down a semitone again, an octave up to D natural.

CREATING A LINE:

To see/hear this in action,let’s create a phrase/line.

We will do this by starting with an A minor arpeggio and an open D string. This has a triad pair inflection.

This open D string also gives our fretting hand a fraction of a second to get into the next position:

John McLaughlin heet music notation displaying a guitar arpeggio with annotated markings highlighting specific notes and techniques.

Another important point-John creates interest, by manipulating the 1st inversion minor chords on the first three strings of the guitar: In this case Cm and Am.

This gives us that spiritual or ethereal sound John is known for. It also, creates flavour and colour out of the basic minor pentatonic scale sound, yielding a more original result. [Please watch video above for demo performance]

Another great idea, is to employ the minor 7th arpeggio to the pentatonic scale:

Musical notation featuring a John McLaughlin pentatonic scale and Am7 arpeggio, indicating different positions on a guitar fretboard. — Chord diagram illustrating the McLaughlin pentatonic scale and Am7 arpeggio for guitar.

Lastly, John is a master at exploiting quartal harmony to create smooth pentatonic lines.

Music notation showing guitarist John McLaughlin's use of quartal harmony at the guitar when improvising — Sheet music illustrating guitar techniques used by John McLaughlin, focusing on quartal harmony ascending

PART 3:

What’s great about using the minor arpeggio as a mapping tool, is that we can add notes of the pentatonic scale in between it. [Resulting in long fluid lines].