AbstractsCommunication

M.A. University of Hawaii at Manoa 2011. Individuals who are competent in nonverbal communication are those who are able to accurately and effectively express, interpret, and regulate emotion in everyday conversation. Scholars have argued that acoustic cues such as pitch, tempo, timbre, rhythm, and tone in nonverbal communication share similarities with acoustic cues in music when expressing, interpreting, and regulating emotion. Recent studies in music training have shown that individuals who received music training were more accurate in sending and detecting emotion through the use of acoustic cues than individuals who have not received music training. This investigation examined the relationship between years of formal music training with nonverbal communication competence, overall communication competence, and emotional intelligence. This study also tested the notion that individuals with music training will report higher scores in nonverbal communication competence, overall communication competence, and emotional intelligence than individuals who have not had music training. The results suggest that more years of music training was correlated with higher competency in nonverbal communication as well as overall communication. Results also suggest that individuals with music training reported higher competency in nonverbal communication competence and overall communication competence than individuals with no training in music. The findings in this paper have implications in regards to music training in schools and further understanding of the relationship between communication and music.