Play the piano with your cats
Written
by Dr. Laxmi Iyer
This
can be lots of fun for you, for your cat and for your whole
family too.
You
can start with very simple melodies and slow tunes. In the
beginning you may just assemble all your cats and your family
too around the piano. May be you can start by moving your
piano close to the dining table.
The
sessions can be started pre lunch or pre breakfast. Play
the piano slowly and observe your cats carefully.
The next time, get your cats closer and get a small chair
or bench close to the piano. Let them watch you playing.
You
may continue such sessions for at least 3-4 weeks before
your cats begin to learn to use their paws to tap on the
piano keys.
Alternatively,
before they start playing on the real piano keys, you can
buy them a child's toy piano set.
If
they don't move their paws on the piano keys spontaneously,
you may use strings to get them to play on the piano keys.
Although
it sounds like it may too difficult to teach them how to
play in tune to rhythms, they may be able to after some
time be comfortable with playing some very simple tunes.
Even
if they don't advance that far, just playing notes on the
piano keys will keep you, your cats and your entire family
entertained for at least an hour if not longer.
Take
care to make sure that your pets don't strain themselves.
Therefore, try to restrict sessions to about 15 minutes
to half an hour and not longer.
As
they play with the strings, their paws will automatically
tap on the keys. They will slowly get used to the different
notes that are created.
Remember,
that the piano is another name for a great musical instrument.
At a later stage after you and your cats have attained a
certain degree of skill, you can also try using a digital
music composer.
This
would be a really great exercise to follow for both yourself
and your cats simply because of the very wide number of
different tones created by the sounds of different instruments.
