Discovering Elephants' love for music

[Tobi]

This is such a charming and moving video. (It is 46 minutes long.)
A musician explores the help which music can give to Elephants. Many have suffered a lot in their lives, as "Street Elephants", or who have a history of neglect or abuse of some kind.

I think this shows they really LIKE the music!

What a nice man!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke4S7INao2I

(I guess this is distantly related to me whistling nice tunes for Sally and random sheep, feral cats, and cows)

[Catherine]

I watched the whole thing and of course listened. I think the elephants responded to the music. If they were not interested they would not have stood around the piano.

What an extraordinary man to take his music to elephants in a jungle. He could have played concert halls for people who would pay for the privilege of hearing him. Instead he plays as a way of reaching elephants who have been abused by humans. He is brave and sensitive and a beautiful human being.

I suppose there will be many elephants in need for years to come. Elephants can live a long time and there must be so many who have been used/abused who now need a place to retire. There is something wrong about using an elephant until it is old and blind and then leaving him to others to care for.

I am not surprized to see and animal respond to music. I know Misty liked music. I used to sing to my dwarf hamsters as a way of calming them. The quail I had years ago loved music. I still have their favourite pieces and now I have a cassette player again so I can play them for the new quail. The male calls to my microwave when it chimes so I think he will love music.

I think nature is full of music. Go out into a quiet place and listen and it is not quiet. There are sounds and rhythms in the wind and water. Music is the most natural thing in the world. Humans didn't invent it, but we did perfect it. It is one of the things that we do very well that make the world a better place.

[Tobi]

Animals can be a bit like humans inasmuch as some like music more than others. And of course they have their tastes, so some prefer pop music or rock, and others prefer classical. But classical is very soothing, and they do mostly appreciate that. Some humans say they don't like classical just because they have a prejudice against it or think it's 'boring'.

Misty showed me which music she liked best. And I began to see she was introducing me to composers I had not thought much about before. That was very interesting!

The Elephants apparently respond to rhythm a lot. I should think many animals do. It is said that dogs like Reggae! Misty used to quite like that too.....and Bruno Mars, "Today I don't feel like doing anything"! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLexgOxsZu0
I think she saw humour in that song.

[Catherine]

I like the song. Some days that's how you feel.  That is the beauty of music. It can express so many things.

Misty definitely had taste in music. I wonder how many of our pets have different tastes in music and wish we would play certain songs more. I promise to find out what music the quail like.

I think the elephants liked the strong rhythms, but some days they wanted mellow sounds. So they have music moods just like we do. The piano does give a better sound than a recording. The grand piano gives an even fuller sound. I think elephants were  capable of hearing the difference better than humans. Maybe we could calm and sooth animals with music in a lot of situations. Instead of shooting an animal in distress, we could play music or sing to it. We should be playing more music for people too.