Beethoven received an education that was meant to prepare him for a career as a court musician, like his father and grandfather before him. His earliest musical training came from his own father, who taught him at the keyboard at home, and he later took lessons in keyboard and violin from other Bonn musicians. He attended the public elementary school for a few years, but left school at the age of eleven to focus entirely on his musical training. By his teenage years he was a member of the... Show moreBeethoven received an education that was meant to prepare him for a career as a court musician, like his father and grandfather before him. His earliest musical training came from his own father, who taught him at the keyboard at home, and he later took lessons in keyboard and violin from other Bonn musicians. He attended the public elementary school for a few years, but left school at the age of eleven to focus entirely on his musical training. By his teenage years he was a member of the Bonn court Kapelle, and his duties involved playing the organ for church services and playing viola in the court orchestra. Beethoven showed a clear talent for music as a child, but his father did not try to cultivate him as a child prodigy in the way that Mozart’s father had. Whereas Mozart’s father encouraged his son to compose from a very early age, and took the Mozart children on performing tours around Europe, Beethoven’s father mainly aimed to give Ludwig an education that would prepare him for a career at the Bonn court. His early training emphasized practical skills necessary for a versatile court musician. Show less