Unique Jazz Pedagogy

Biography
Dennis Sandole was born on September 29, 1913 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and
died there on September 30, 2000. [5] He was self-taught and began playing the
guitar sometime in his late teens. He progressed quickly on to piano, theory,
composition, and arranging, eventually playing in a group with his brother Adolph,
a saxophonist. [6] Both Sandole brothers would go on to become jazz musicians and
teachers, and would collaborate musically on and off throughout their lives.
Sandole’s performance career began in Atlantic City, New Jersey where he played in
the city’s numerous nightclubs before moving to the west coast. [7] He relocated to
Hollywood California in the late 1930s, becoming a staff
guitarist/composer/arranger for MGM Studios. It was there that he began working
with artists such as Billie Holliday and Frank Sinatra [8] and also played and
recorded with bandleaders such as Ray McKinley, Tommy Dorsey, Boyd Raeburn, and
Charlie Barnet. [9] Around this time, he also became interested in teaching and
began work on pedagogical literature for jazz musicians and composers using his
experience and close interaction with orchestral musicians to help shape his
ability to eventually teach musical concepts to all types of instrumentalists. [10]
He returned to Philadelphia in the mid 1940s [11] to devote the rest of his life to
teaching, performing and recording only sporadically thereafter and it was here
that John Coltrane became one of his weekly private students at The Granoff
Studios, a school that provided training in both jazz and classical music, from
1946 until the early 1950s and both men “remained close.” [12] Word spread about
Sandole’s abilities as a teacher and he was sought after for private lessons by
many well-respected jazz musicians in Philadelphia, New York, and elsewhere. His
skills as a performer, composer, and teacher were held in high regard by many
influential modern jazz artists such as Stan Kenton, Sonny Stitt, and Charlie
Parker, who reputedly asked Sandole for a lesson. [13] He also completed two
pedagogical texts during his career which were reportedly finished by the time he
returned to Philadelphia from the west coast. [14] These were the influential
guitar method book Guitar Lore, first published in 1976, and Scale Lore, an
unpublished text consisting of some of Sandole’s techniques for constructing unique
scales as well as material dealing with scalar and harmonic substitution in jazz
composition and improvisation.
Sandole’s recorded output is relatively small and includes a collaboration with his
brother Adolph of original compositions for jazz ensemble titled The Brothers
Sandole: Modern Music from Philadelphia, featuring musicians such as Art Farmer,
Teo Macero, and Milt Hinton [15] and The Dennis Sandole Project: A Sandole Trilogy,
a collection of material featuring Sandole on guitar in a quartet setting from the
1950s, some solo piano and jazz combo compositions, and excerpts from what he
termed his “jazz ballet opera” Evenin’ Is Cryin’. [16] Of particular note as a
sideman is his guitar performance on his original composition “Dark Bayou”,
recorded by Charlie Barnet. [17] Other examples of Sandole as a composer include
“Wayward Plaint” on James Moody’s Running The Gamut [18] and “Hyacinth” on Art
Farmer’s The Many Faces of Art Farmer. [19]
Among the best known of Sandole’s large roster of students include saxophonists
John Coltrane, James Moody, Benny Golson, Michael Pedicin, Jr., Danny Turner, Bobby
Zankel, Billy Root, and Rob Brown; trumpeters Art Farmer and Randy Brecker;
pianists Ron Thomas, Matthew Shipp, and Sumi Tonooka; jazz bagpiper Rufus Harley;
bassists Craig Thomas and Fred Weiss; and guitarists Jim Hall, Harry Leahey, Billy
Bean, John Collins, Dale Bruning, Joe Diorio, Tom Giacabetti, and Pat Martino. [20]

Teaching Outline
Sandole’s lesson plan or “improvisation outline,” as he termed it, consisted of a
four-week cycle in which specific topics were covered per week in a prescribed
manner. This lesson plan covered the main aspects of a jazz musician’s technical
and creative training including technique, ear training, composition, arranging,
and concepts for improvisation.
The main feature of Sandole’s lesson material were four- or five-measure etudes he
termed “compositional devices” which were composed by Sandole for the student
during the lesson and were based on a specific harmonic or melodic topic or
concept. Each was written specifically for the student, and they differed
significantly from person to person with no two lessons on the same topic being
identical. [21] These etudes were designed to extend the student’s technical
facility, compositional concept, and aural recognition of advanced harmonic and
melodic material. [22]
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.