I am a musicologist who studies early jazz starting in the late-nineteenth century through the 1940s. My dissertation is on the Creole of Color clarinet tradition in New Orleans, its exportation, and its influence on Duke Ellington. Although my interests are focused in Black music, I am qualified to teach any music history courses or music studies courses. I also can teach class piano courses and applied lessons in clarinet and saxophone performance.
Throughout my education at Duke University, I was a teaching assistant to various courses, including Introduction to Jazz (Fall 2020) and Reflective Writing and the Internship/Work Experience (Fall 2021). I also taught an aural skills lab (Spring 2021) and a music writing course at Duke University (Fall 2022-Spring 2023) as the instructor of record. As an adjunct instructor at Shaw University, I have taught Music Theory II, African American Music, and Class Piano I (Fall 2023). Starting in Spring 2024, I will be working as fulltime instructor there, teaching courses in music theory, form and analysis, class piano, and African American music history. I hope to create courses centered on Black music theory and music studies for music majors in the near future.
I believe in prioritizing my students’ agency in the classroom to encourage their individual interest in a topic and to generate more knowledge than I can possibly present for the course. I often allow students the opportunity to pick the music for writing and analysis assignments. In my writing course, for example, this manifested in students being allowed to pick any music they would like for each assignment, except for the album review which they chose an album for another student. In my music theory classes, I let students choose music to analyze for a short analysis project using concepts we have applied to both Western art music and popular music in class. By focusing on the concepts I would like them to learn and allowing for flexibility in music choice (see rubric), students can begin to think about how to apply the concepts they are learning to music outside of class. For a biopic assignment in my African American music course, students are allowed to choose any biopic on a Black musician or musical group for their presentation. Not only does this allow us to ask broad questions about how Black musicians are portrayed in the media, but it also allows students to feel like the expert in the room about their topic. Lastly, at the beginning of class or a designated day of the week, I also set aside time for “listening sessions” where students can bring music related to the content of the course or that they are simply loving at the moment. Listening sessions have included a wide range of music, including “Tell Him” by Lauryn Hill to demonstrate the blending of secular and sacred elements in Black music and “Tadow” by FKJ & Masego to show performance dynamics between two musicians.
I am constantly revising my teaching practices for the benefit of my students. A month or so into the semester, I conduct a survey asking students about the experiences in the classroom thus far and allowing space for any suggestions they may have to improve their learning experience. I always break down the results of these surveys in class, so students feel heard. The listening sessions I conduct in the classroom were actually an idea from a student suggested during a midterm survey for my writing course that I have taken with me to other classes, such as my African American music course.
I revised my teaching style when I started teaching students at Shaw University. In-class activities, such as group presentations and pair-and-share, on which I came to rely at Duke University were not as effective at Shaw University. After experimenting with a few other teaching methods, I found that using short debates after challenging lectures and station activities or other interactive activities on days opposite of lectures were much more engaging to my students. I also discovered that many students valued a small amount of time at the end of class to work on more complicated homework assignments with my assistance. By building in this time in class, students were able to gain more confidence on the material and access my help without feeling the pressure to come to office hours. Additionally, other students benefit from the questions another student asks.
I want to build a classroom environment where every student is comfortable sharing their taste in music, their thoughts on any subject matter, and their own experiences. In the classes I have taught so far, I have accomplished fostering a safe learning experience. For example, one student who filled out the class evaluation about my music writing course wrote: “Professor Krall made this class a very comfortable environment and I always felt like she cared about us not only as students but as people. She provided lots of opportunities for us to reflect on our own relationship with music and share with others, which made class very enjoyable because we got to share our music with each other.” As I continue to develop as an educator, I hope to always promote a classroom setting that encourages community and lasting friendships.