Courtney Crappell, Assistant Professor of Piano Pedagogy

Dr. Courtney Crappell, NCTM, is Assistant Professor of Piano Pedagogy at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) where he teaches piano, piano pedagogy, and class piano. In addition to his teaching activities, he coordinates the class piano program and maintains the music department’s Piano Pedagogy Resource Center. A native of south Louisiana, he earned his BM in Piano Performance at Louisiana State University and then traveled to the University of Oklahoma (OU) to complete his MM and DMA degrees in Piano Performance and Pedagogy. During his graduate studies, he was a winner of the OU concerto competition and also a contributing recording artist for the CD accompanying the text, The Music Effect: Kindergarten, by Dr. Joy Nelson.

Dr. Crappell’s research in piano literature, piano pedagogy, and ethnomusicology has been featured at international and national conferences and he is active as a clinician for state and local teachers in Texas. In 2008, he was invited to join the executive steering committee of the National Group Piano and Piano Pedagogy Forum (GP3) and is currently involved in organizing the upcoming 2012 summer conference. He has published articles and reviews in the Music Teachers National Association’s journal, American Music Teacher, and the online journal, Piano Pedagogy Forum. Also, he is author of a regular column geared toward young professional music teachers for the journal, American Music Teacher. His current research focuses on exploring non-western pedagogical paradigms within the oral tradition.

An advocate for the seamless integration of technology in the teaching studio and classroom, Dr. Crappell has presented workshops for collegiate and independent music teachers introducing pedagogical techniques using digital keyboards, computer software, Internet utilities, and SMART Board technology. He is also co-creator and designer of the website findpianoworks.com. The site aims to systematically catalog piano teaching repertoire and anthologies in an effort to simplify the literature search process. The ongoing project is in its third developmental phase and is partially funded by the Charlotte Louise Dashiell and Lota M. Spell Endowment.

Dr. Crappell is an active member of the Music Teachers National Association and serves as the Collegiate Chapters Chair for the Texas Music Teachers Association. Before joining the faculty at UTSA, he taught piano pedagogy and class piano at Oklahoma City University. As a graduate teaching assistant at OU, he taught courses in class piano, secondary applied piano, aural skills, music theory, and world music. He has maintained a private studio and taught pre-collegiate beginner, intermediate, and advanced piano students since 1998.

Courses Taught

MUS 1532 Funct Piano Non-Keyboard Princ
MUS 1552 Funct Piano Keyboard Princ
MUS 1521 Class Piano: Level I
MUS 1521 Class Piano: Level II
MUS 4532 Music Pedagogy
MUS 5421 Practicum in Advanced Teaching
MUS 5533 Pedagogy of Musical Performance
MUS 5572 Pedagogy of Class Instruction
MUS 6903 Project in Music Pedagogy