Creativity and individuality were stressed and Sandole rarely performed on any

instrument at lessons to minimize direct visual and aural stylistic influence over
his students. This is also perhaps a reflection of the profile of student who
sought Sandole’s instruction. “Those studying with him already knew the mechanics
and were seeking his insights on matters of concept, his knowledge of exotic
scales, and other techniques to broaden an improviser’s range of expression.
Sandole was known for his progressive approach to jazz harmony.” [23] He also did
not advocate a specific style or “school” of jazz through his teaching [24] and
encouraged students to apply the lesson material in any way they deemed
appropriate. Pat Martino remarked that, “He taught by not interfering with the
blessings each student was given, by amplifying them in any way he could,” [25] and
Joe Federico, Sandole’s longtime friend and student, added, “The students that he
produced showed that he had a great literature to teach which was expressed
differently by each student.” [26] As a consequence, there was no uniform sound or
style that could be evidenced amongst his students.
As a general mode of practice, Sandole had non-guitar students perform each
compositional device in every key while guitar students were asked to play each
device starting on every string and every finger using the original untransposed
device only, making octave adjustments where necessary. These procedures were not
always rigidly followed and Sandole would encourage students to construct their own
methods for practicing the lesson material when he felt it was appropriate and
beneficial, for instance a guitarist playing the devices in a I–IV–V modulatory
pattern similar to a blues. [27] Students of monophonic instruments typically
played the chord voicing portions of the lessons on piano and Sandole asked that
his students construct examples that voiced the melody of their harmonization
assignments in every voice of the chord, not just in the top voice as is most
common in jazz.
Sandole was also known to have possessed a thorough and intimate knowledge of
traditional classical pedagogical texts for various instruments such as Franz
Simandl’s New Method for String Bass, [28] Niccolo Paganini’s Twenty-four Caprices
for Solo Violin for violinists and guitarists, and J. S. Bach’s Two- and Three-Part
Inventions for pianists and guitarists, [29] and assigned his students novel and
creative ways of studying them. Pianist Matthew Shipp recalls that Sandole “had me
take violin books and write bass lines in the left hand and then learn these pieces
in twelve keys” in addition to using material from solfege books as improvisational
devices over chord changes. [30] Jazz bagpiper Rufus Harley credited Sandole with
helping him discover how to play chromatic tones on his instrument and encouraging
him to try bagpipes as his primary instrument. [31] Sandole was also knowledgeable
regarding many influential theoretical texts such as Vincent Persichetti’s
Twentieth Century Harmony, Hermann von Helmholtz’s On the Sensations of Tone, [32]
Walter Piston’s Orchestration, [33] and he even possessed cantus firmi with a
lineage going back to Antonio Salieri for studies in traditional species
counterpoint. [34]
Some General Topics of Study-Compositional Devices
The topics for each lesson included (but were not limited to) subjects such as
compositional device on bass line, substitution of note and alteration of note,
modes, development of augmented and diminished triads, substitute chords, bitonal
and synthetic scales, polychords, alternate triads, deceptive resolutions, two
augmented or diminished scales simultaneously, harmonization of exotic scales,
Neapolitan on each chromatic note, doubly chromatic chords and scales, and the
first, second, and third four bars of blues. [35] Sandole typically started all
pupils with the first three from this list, and once an area was completed to his
satisfaction, he would ask the student to choose the next topic so that each
student went through each topic in a different sequence depending on their area of
interest and level of development.
The lesson plans consisted of four designated weeks labeled A, B, C, and D with
each week being broken down into three subsections (A1, A2, A3; B1, B2, B3, etc.).
A different compositional device was written for A1, B1, and C1. For the final week
(D), the student would combine and apply the concepts from the previous three weeks
into a final performance project. Following this, the cycle restarted with A week
consisting of entirely new material.

This topic deals with descending semitonal resolutions or Neapolitan relationships.

The overall harmonic scheme of this device starts on the dominant chord (G) with
the chord cycle ascending by semitone with each chord being preceded by its
Neapolitan chord. Progressing into the last bar, the chordal root movement leaps by
a third with the final resolution being to the tonic chord C. These chords are all
major with seventh designations changing between dominant and major seventh sounds
depending on the melodic content implied by the compositional device. Guitarists
would be required to play this example with what Sandole termed “every string,
every finger.” This means that one would be required to play this entire device
from memory beginning on every D♮ on the fretboard (the first and lowest tone of
this particular device) starting on each of the four fingers on the fretting hand
making octave adjustments where necessary. Other instrumentalists and vocalists
would be required to perform their devices in all twelve keys.
In this example the double stops in the first three measures consisting of major
sevenths and minor ninths are placed on each possible position within a group of
four sixteenth notes to accent a variety of rhythmic groupings from twos through to
fives. Sandole would, in some instances, highlight the notes he wanted accented
within a device to underscore a specific rhythmic scheme he deemed important to the
execution and interpretation of the music.
Sandole encouraged students to “paraphrase” or compose an original etude on each
compositional device in whatever manner they wished in order to further develop
their improvisational and compositional vocabulary as well as to aid in aural
recognition of the lesson material and to extend instrumental technique. The
following is an excerpt of a composition on the A1 device where the melodic
material from the A♭ and G chordal sections has been gathered up and re-ordered as
a scale for melodic composition and improvisation vocabulary: