David Knapp

Email Address dknapp@fsu.edu
Phone 850-645-0482
David H. Knapp is an Assistant Professor of Music Education in the College of Music at Florida State University. His research and teaching focus on removing barriers to participation in music education. In the College of Music, he teaches methods courses in digital music making and modern band, with a focus on diverse and accessible teaching practices. He received his Ph.D. in Music Education from Florida State University.
Knapp’s research interests include community music with marginalized communities, vernacular music making, music technology, and steel band. His research has been published in the International Journal of Community Music, Music Education Research, the Journal of Popular Music Education, Research Studies in Music Education, Research in Education, the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, and General Music Today. Though much of his work has used qualitative methods, his most recent work has examined the use of web-based music learning platforms with machine learning.
Prior to his appointment at FSU, Knapp served on the music education faculty at Syracuse University. While there he began the Music in the Community (MiC) program, a collaboration between the Setnor School of Music and community partners to establish lab spaces throughout the community. This included the New American All-Stars, a vernacular music ensemble for refugee youth, and the Digital Music Lab, a community-based music production studio for urban high school students. He also helped launch the SENSES Lab, an on-campus production studio at Syracuse University for historically marginalized students. His role in this lab earned him the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Unsung Heroes Award in 2022, presented by Martin Luther King III.
Publications
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Knapp, D. H., Clauhs, M., & Powell, B. (2024.). A demographic profile of high school music courses in New York. Music Education Research, 25(5). https://doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2023.2272159
- Piato, N., & Knapp, D. H. (2023.). Speaking through Soundtrap. In B. Powell (Ed.), Modern band handbook. Oxford University Press.
- Knapp, D. H., Powell, B., & Smith, D. G. (2023.). Music teacher perceptions of modern band and Little Kids Rock: A qualitative study of program outcomes. Music Education Research. https://doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2023.2167967
- Knapp, D. H., Powell, B., Smith, D. G., Coggiola, J., & Kelsey, M. (2023.). Soundtrap during COVID-19: A machine-learning approach to assess the effects of the pandemic on music education. Research Studies in Music Education, 45(3), 571–584. https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103X221149374
- Knapp, D. H., Powell, B., & Smith, G. D. (2022.). National profile of teacher perceptions of teaching and learning in modern band programs in the United States. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 231, 77–92. https://doi.org/10.5406/21627223.231.05
- Smith, G. D., Powell, B. & Knapp, D. H. (2022.). Little Kids Rock and Modern Band in American schools: A punk problematic. Research in Education.
- Knapp, D. H. (2021). Transgressing the borders of music education. In B. Powell and G. Smith (Eds.), Places and Purposes of Popular Music Education. Intellect.
- Knapp, D. H., & Abelgore, N. (2020). The New American All-Stars: Informal learning and community music with refugee youth. School Music News.
- Knapp, D. H. (2020). Modern band and special learners. General Music Today. Sage.
- Knapp, D. H., & Silva, C. (2019). The Shelter Band: Homelessness, social support and self-efficacy in a community music partnership. International Journal of Community Music, 12(3).