Are Octopuses Musical?

Octolab has already explored the possibility of octopuses being able to perceive sound vibrations in the water. It is therefore the logical next step to try and explore the possibility that octopuses can produce and appreciate underwater music. Introducing the octopus to human-made musical instruments seemed a good start towards that direction.

Also, we were curious to see how the octopus will react to a musical instrument because most instruments are oddly shaped, made of diverse materials, and are a completely unfamiliar sight in the ocean.

Can An Octopus Play The Guitar?

Our octopus immediately showed signs of curiosity the moment we placed the guitar in the experiment tank and maintained a high level of curiosity throughout the experiment.
As if it wanted to tune it before playing, the octopus begun its exploration with the guitar’s tuning keys.  It then moved towards the bridge and made contact with the strings.
As expected, the octopus felt especially attracted by the sound hole. Its arms made a thorough investigation of the interior but surprisingly enough, the octopus never entered the sound hole.
Instead, it proceeded its examination of the other side of the guitar.

We were hoping to hear some tunes but this octopus, however curious, did not seem to understand the guitar’s function.

Octopus With Music Talent

As octopuses have individual characters, it would make sense if they also exhibited a different degree of artistic talent.

We would love to explore this concept in the future and introduce more musical instruments to various octopuses. After all, not all people can play music and not all musicians have equal musical skills. We will keep looking for the Beethoven and Chopin of the cephalopod world.