Beethoven for kids: his life, his music, and what to play first

Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer who lived from 1770 to 1827. He was a brilliant pianist who began to lose his hearing in his late twenties. He kept writing music for the rest of his life, including nine symphonies. His music is bold and full of strong feeling. The best first piece for a child is the opening of Symphony No. 5, with its famous four notes.

This guide gives you the story, the sound, and five pieces to try.

Quick facts

• Born: 1770, in Bonn, Germany
• Died: 1827, in Vienna, Austria
• Era: Classical, leading into Romantic
• Played: piano
• Known for: nine symphonies, 32 piano sonatas, and the “Ode to Joy”

The life in short

Beethoven was born in Bonn. His father was a singer at the local court, and he was the boy’s first music teacher. He was a harsh teacher. Beethoven gave his first public concert at age seven.

At 21 Beethoven moved to Vienna, the city of Mozart and Haydn. He took lessons from Haydn. He soon became known as one of the finest pianists in the city. He could make up music on the spot, and people came to hear him do it.

In his late twenties he noticed a ringing in his ears. Sounds grew faint. Over the years his hearing got worse. It was a hard blow for a musician, and for a time he hid it. In his last years he could hear almost nothing. Friends wrote their side of a conversation in a notebook, and he answered out loud.

He did not stop. He knew how music worked so well that he could hear it in his mind and write it down. Some of his greatest pieces come from the years when he could not hear them played.

In 1824 his Symphony No. 9 was played for the first time. It ends with a choir singing the “Ode to Joy.” Accounts from that night say Beethoven stood on the stage, facing the players. He could not hear the applause. One of the singers turned him around so he could see the crowd clapping.

He died in Vienna in 1827. A huge crowd filled the streets for his funeral.

What the music sounds like

Beethoven took the clear style of Haydn and Mozart and made it bigger. His music has sudden loud chords, long build-ups, and quiet moments that feel like holding your breath.

He liked to take a tiny idea and build a whole piece from it. The four notes that open Symphony No. 5 come back again and again, high and low, loud and soft. A child can learn to spot them.

You will see “Op.” and a number after his titles. Op. is short for opus, a Latin word that means “work.” The numbers follow, more or less, the order in which his pieces were published.

Five pieces to play first

Symphony No. 5, first movement. Three short notes and one long one: da-da-da-DUM. Clap the pattern first. Then play the music and count how many times your child hears it. The whole movement lasts about seven minutes. The first two minutes are enough for a young child.

Für Elise. A gentle piano piece with a tune that rocks back and forth. Many piano students dream of playing it. It was not published until 40 years after Beethoven died, and nobody is sure who Elise was.

“Ode to Joy,” from Symphony No. 9. The tune moves by steps, so it is easy to sing. Low strings play it first, quietly. More instruments join. At last a choir sings it. Hum along.

Symphony No. 6, “Pastoral,” second and fourth movements. This symphony is about a day in the countryside. In the second movement, listen near the end for three birds: a flute plays the nightingale, an oboe plays the quail, and a clarinet plays the cuckoo. The fourth movement is a thunderstorm.

Moonlight Sonata, first movement. Slow, rolling notes in groups of three, with a quiet tune on top. Beethoven did not give it that name. A writer added it after he died. This is calm music for the end of the day.

Things to do together

Hunt the four notes. Play the first movement of Symphony No. 5 and make a tally mark each time the pattern returns. There is no right total. The hunt is the point.

Feel the vibrations. Put a hand on a speaker or on the lid of a piano while music plays. Talk about how a person who cannot hear well can still feel sound.

Paint a storm. Play the storm from the Pastoral Symphony. Give your child paper and dark crayons. Start with light rain and draw harder as the music grows.

Place him in time. Beethoven was 20 when Mozart died and 38 when Haydn died. Find all three on the composer timeline.

A note for piano families

Beethoven wrote short pieces that students play in their first years, such as the Minuet in G and the easy sonatinas. He also wrote a funny piano piece known as “Rage Over a Lost Penny.” Play a recording and ask your child what the pianist’s hands must be doing.

Print and play

Print the Beethoven fact sheet. It has the story, three pieces, and room to write and draw. The listening journal page works well with the Pastoral Symphony.

Next, meet Mozart and Haydn, who shaped the style Beethoven grew up with. For all 24 composers by era, see classical composers for kids.