# Man teaches octopus to play piano **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [August 7, 2026, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-teaches-octopus-to-play-piano/1032212 "2026-08-07T15:30:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-teaches-octopus-to-play-piano/1032212/1 "2026-08-07T15:30:17Z")
Maybe this belongs in MPSIMS, but it’s about music (kinda) and sort of even about food. The video is 18 minutes, and well-edited. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/PcWnQ7fYzwI/maxresdefault.jpg "I taught an octopus piano (It took 6 months)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcWnQ7fYzwI) ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-teaches-octopus-to-play-piano/1032212/2 "2026-08-07T15:35:00Z")
I’m halfway through watching - fascinating. Funny how an intermediate step was using the special speaker as a vibrator. “Taco was satisfied…and I was happy that Taco started playing piano, even if it was for…unconventional reasons.” It’s fun, but also profound, about incentivizing longer-term goals. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-teaches-octopus-to-play-piano/1032212/3 "2026-08-07T15:36:56Z")
I’d like to be under the sea… ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-teaches-octopus-to-play-piano/1032212/4 "2026-08-07T15:50:53Z")
“As we all know, a musician could never survive in the real world.” I’ve shared the video with my kid’s piano teacher. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-teaches-octopus-to-play-piano/1032212/5 "2026-08-07T15:52:15Z")
Mrs. Squid ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-teaches-octopus-to-play-piano/1032212/6 "2026-08-07T15:54:24Z")
Do you mean this? New to me. Sounds a bit like _Charlotte’s Web._ > **[AN OCTOPUS CALLED MRS. SQUID; A STORY IN HER OWN INK: Beby, Betty:...](https://www.amazon.com/OCTOPUS-CALLED-MRS-SQUID-STORY/dp/0967452538)** > > AN OCTOPUS CALLED MRS. SQUID; A STORY IN HER OWN INK \[Beby, Betty\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. AN OCTOPUS CALLED MRS. SQUID; A STORY IN HER OWN INK ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-teaches-octopus-to-play-piano/1032212/7 "2026-08-07T15:56:17Z")
But can it play the Michigan Rag? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-teaches-octopus-to-play-piano/1032212/8 "2026-08-07T16:05:30Z")
I liked the comment about trying to get a PhD for the project ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-teaches-octopus-to-play-piano/1032212/9 "2026-08-07T16:08:56Z")
No, but that was a good find. I was thinking what would Gary Larson draw for a multi-legged piano teacher who was maybe not quite so fetching. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-teaches-octopus-to-play-piano/1032212/10 "2026-08-07T17:41:21Z")
It seems to me that he missed an obvious idea… When Tako was pulling every key except the lit one, he should have tried lighting every key except the one he wanted played. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-teaches-octopus-to-play-piano/1032212/11 "2026-08-07T18:01:59Z")
That was totally captivating! 💓 ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-teaches-octopus-to-play-piano/1032212/12 "2026-08-07T18:20:03Z")
I had the same thought. Maybe “lit up” means “dangerous” to an octopus, and that would have discouraged it, though. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-teaches-octopus-to-play-piano/1032212/13 "2026-08-07T19:08:39Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > hen Tako was pulling every key except the lit one, he should have tried lighting every key except the one he wanted played. I, too, thought of that. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > I liked the comment about trying to get a PhD for the project Yes! (The comment was from what appears to be a professional neuroscientist). Anyway…my kid’s piano teacher loved it, and said she would have passed it on to her pupils, except that the video contains the F-word, so no go. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-teaches-octopus-to-play-piano/1032212/14 "2026-08-07T19:21:59Z")
That… was amazing and uplifting and so fun! Thanks for posting it, @puzzlegal! ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-teaches-octopus-to-play-piano/1032212/15 "2026-08-07T19:38:04Z")
I like most of Mattias Krantz’s videos. His series on weirdly modified pianos is pretty great, too. The electrified, sparking piano was pretty unhinged. The guitar that used a very powerful magnet to suspend the bridge in mid air made me the most nervous, though. Today he has a poll up for what he should attempt next. The options are: - Convincing ants to build me a guitar - Using termites to build me a guitar (biological cnc machine) - Teaching a mantis shrimp to slap bass (slaps like a bullet shot) - Carnivorous plant piano plant piano (idk how to solve this one) I voted for the bass playing mantis shrimp. It’s currently in the lead. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-teaches-octopus-to-play-piano/1032212/16 "2026-08-07T19:49:04Z")
This was fascinating, yet contributes to my ever-increasing nervousness about octopuses. They’re too smart. They’ll take over the world one day. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-teaches-octopus-to-play-piano/1032212/17 "2026-08-07T21:47:33Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > They’ll take over the world one day. That’ll probably a good day for the world. ---
**Author:** ![themapleleaf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themapleleaf/32/14349_2.png) [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-teaches-octopus-to-play-piano/1032212/18 "2026-08-07T22:06:32Z")
One of my favorite jokes: # A Guy Walks Into A Bar With An Octopus Under His Arm He sets the octopus on a stool next to him and announces: “This is an amazing octopus. I’ll bet anyone in this bar $50 that this octopus can play any instrument set in front of it.” None of the people could believe this, so one guy brought up a guitar. The octopus took hold of the guitar and started picking away, better than Jimi Hendrix. The man took $50 from the guitarist. Next someone brings up a trumpet. The octopus started playing the trumpet, better than Herb Alpert. The man won another $50 from the trumpeter. Then some guy brought up some bagpipes. The octopus picked up the bagpipes for a minute and, looking a little puzzled, set them down again. “Can’t you play the bagpipes?” asked the man. “Play it?” said the octopus, “I’m gonna screw it as soon as I figure out how to get its pajamas off.” ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-teaches-octopus-to-play-piano/1032212/19 "2026-08-07T22:09:41Z")
😂 Good one! ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-teaches-octopus-to-play-piano/1032212/20 "2026-08-07T22:57:34Z")
Calamari, my old friend. 😁 This was a nice story. I like it too [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-teaches-octopus-to-play-piano/1032212.md?page=2)