Beethovens teacher

Beethoven's first music teacher was his father. He was also taught by his older brother but his brother was so strict he would find Beethoven standing on the piano in tears. Beethoven was forced to practice everyday. Ludwig van Beethoven was only four years old when his grandfather died, he never forgot him, but cherished his portrait to the end of his life. Beethoven's father, a tenor singer at the archbishop-elector's court, was of a rough and violent temper, not improved by his passion for drink, nor by the dire poverty under which the family labored. Beethoven's father wished to profit as early as possible by his son's talent, and accordingly began to give him a severe musical training, especially on the violin, when he was only five years old, at about which time they left the house in which he was born (515 Bonngasse, now preserved as a Beethoven museum, with a magnificent collection of manuscripts and relics). By the time Beethoven was nine his father had no more to teach him. Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mansionwb/3585898112/