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zeborahSaid mystery commenter, seeing the photo of Boots on a piano stool, commented thusly:
Boots is a poser.
Not so! Inspired by a YouTube video someone showed me not long before I finally got the piano here, I have begun teaching her how to play. I began by sitting her down and plonking her paws on the keys then promptly rewarding her with food. After a week or so of this she finally got the idea to make a noise herself. One or two notes. I kept up the rewards. I began ignoring the shorter snatches of notes, ignoring when she merely walks across the keyboard instead of sitting in a proper cat-pianist pose, and hissing when she tries to lift the keys up with her claws, thereby pulling chips in them.
Fortunately it's an old piano.
Last Thursday I reached the stage where she was playing long stretches of notes at high volume while I was attempting to watch a particularly tense episode of Criminal Minds. I now keep the lid closed when it's not dinner time.
I have video proof (which I may even some day be motivated to make pretty and upload to YouTube or summat): okay, maybe I haven't yet taught her how to play the piano, but I've certainly taught her to play, and I'm confident that in time she will be playing every tune possible for a cat with a limited paw-span.
(1) Yes, after long and assiduous research (viz, looking at their user profile) I worked out who they are, and their icon does indeed rock.
Boots is a poser.
Not so! Inspired by a YouTube video someone showed me not long before I finally got the piano here, I have begun teaching her how to play. I began by sitting her down and plonking her paws on the keys then promptly rewarding her with food. After a week or so of this she finally got the idea to make a noise herself. One or two notes. I kept up the rewards. I began ignoring the shorter snatches of notes, ignoring when she merely walks across the keyboard instead of sitting in a proper cat-pianist pose, and hissing when she tries to lift the keys up with her claws, thereby pulling chips in them.
Fortunately it's an old piano.
Last Thursday I reached the stage where she was playing long stretches of notes at high volume while I was attempting to watch a particularly tense episode of Criminal Minds. I now keep the lid closed when it's not dinner time.
I have video proof (which I may even some day be motivated to make pretty and upload to YouTube or summat): okay, maybe I haven't yet taught her how to play the piano, but I've certainly taught her to play, and I'm confident that in time she will be playing every tune possible for a cat with a limited paw-span.
(1) Yes, after long and assiduous research (viz, looking at their user profile) I worked out who they are, and their icon does indeed rock.
