About our authors
Jennifer Sterling Snodgrass is currently a professor of music theory and coordinator of music theory in the Hayes School of Music at Appalachian State University, teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses in music theory, aural skills and music theory pedagogy. Dr. Snodgrass received her BM in vocal performance from Meredith College and her MM in music theory from the University of Tennessee. In 2002, Snodgrass earned a PhD from the University of Maryland where her research focused on computer-assisted instruction and pedagogy.
She has received numerous grants and awards in relation to technology and music instruction. Her research has been published in several journals including the Journal of Technology in Music Learning, The TI:MEs, Music Theory Online, Sacred Music, College Music Symposium and the Music Educators Journal. She has also received numerous awards in relation to excellence in undergraduate education, including the National DyKnow Educator of the Month, the Plemmons Leadership Medallion, the Grammy Foundation Quarterfinalist Music Education Award and the Hayes School of Music Outstanding Teaching Award.
She most recently was named the assistant director of the Stwolinski Center for Music Theory Pedagogy and co-editor of the Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy. Besides her primary interest in music theory and technology, Dr. Snodgrass maintains an active vocal performance agenda. She is active in solfege workshops and has served as a guest clinician for music educators across the southeast.
Jennifer Snodgrass lives in western North Carolina with her husband Greg and daughter Katherine.
Susan Piagentini, Charles Deering McCormick University Distinguished Lecturer, is coordinator of the first-year core curriculum at Northwestern University, and coordinator of the Music Theory and Cognition Program. She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in music theory, aural skills and music theory pedagogy. In her role as coordinator, she mentors the teaching assistants and instructors that provide instruction in the core courses. Dr. Piagentini received her BM in Instrumental Music Education from Augustana College and her MM and PhD in Music Theory from Northwestern University. Her PhD research was the first dissertation in Music Cognition at Northwestern, and blended her interests in pedagogy, music cognition, technology and music theory. The study documented student-learning strategies in music analysis and resulted in a production system model of consistent strategies exhibited across the participants in the study. The results continue to inform her teaching, focusing on the varied problem-solving paths learners use to unfold the analysis of a musical score.
Dr. Piagentini received numerous grants and awards to develop online tools to accompany the core courses at Northwestern. Funding from the Searle Center for Teaching Excellence, the Undergraduate Research Grants Committee, and the Alumni Foundation has paved the way to providing an extension of the classroom in the form of online, interactive skill building practice and assessment tools. As a 2017 Educational Technology Teaching Fellow, she developed online video assessment and peer assessment activities for theory and aural skills courses using the ARC application within the Canvas course management system. She has also received awards in relation to excellence in undergraduate education, including the Northwestern University Faculty Honor Roll, and the Charles Deering McCormick University Distinguished Lecturer Award.
She is a frequent presenter on the use of technology to enhance learning at national and regional conferences, including the Society for Music Theory, Association for Technology in Music Instruction, Technological Directions in Music Learning, TI:ME and the College Music Society. Susan Piagentini lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband Richard and daughter Megan.
