Chopin facts for kids: 15 things to know

Frédéric Chopin was a Polish composer and pianist who lived from 1810 to 1849. Here are 15 facts about him for a school project, a poster, or a composer study. Each one is short enough to copy onto a card.

His childhood in Poland

1. He was born in 1810 in Żelazowa Wola, a village near Warsaw. He gave his birthday as March 1. The church record of his baptism gives February 22.

2. His father was a teacher who had come from France. His mother was Polish, and she played the piano.

3. He had a piece of music printed when he was seven. He played a public concert at eight.

4. He spent summers in the Polish countryside, where he heard village bands and dances. Two Polish dances, the mazurka and the polonaise, run through his music.

5. At 20, he left Poland to make his name abroad. He never saw his country again.

His life in Paris

6. He settled in Paris at 21 and lived there for the rest of his life.

7. He did not like large halls. He gave only about 30 public concerts in his whole life.

8. He liked to play in the homes of friends, for small groups. People who heard him wrote about how soft and clear his playing was.

9. He earned his living by teaching piano and selling his music to publishers.

10. He spent one winter on the island of Majorca, where he finished his set of 24 preludes.

His music

11. Every piece he wrote has a part for the piano. Most are for piano alone.

12. He wrote more than 50 mazurkas, along with waltzes, nocturnes, polonaises, and études.

13. He did not give his pieces nicknames. Other people added names such as “Minute,” “Raindrop,” and “Revolutionary.”

The end of his life

14. He was often ill, with a cough that grew worse over the years. He died in Paris in 1849, at 39.

15. His sister carried his heart home to Warsaw, where it rests inside a church pillar.

One more

Every five years, young pianists from around the world come to Warsaw for a piano competition that bears his name. They play nothing but Chopin. The city’s airport is named for him too.

Three things people get wrong

“The Minute Waltz lasts one minute.” It does not. “Minute” here means tiny. Most pianists take a little under two minutes to play it. Read the Minute Waltz for kids.

“He was French.” He was Polish. His father was French, and Chopin spent his adult life in Paris.

“He named the Raindrop Prelude.” He did not. The nickname came from someone else.

Things to do together

Make a poster. Pick five facts. Write each one in a box and draw a picture for it.

Quiz night. Turn ten of the facts into questions. Take turns asking them.

Time the waltz. Play the Minute Waltz with a timer running. See how long the pianist takes.

Dance in three. A waltz and a mazurka both have three beats. Step on the strong beat, and tap on the other two.

Find Warsaw and Paris. Trace the trip between them on a map.

Print and play

Print the Chopin fact sheet. Read Chopin for kids for his life story and the pieces to play first. For the kinds of pieces he wrote, see short piano pieces explained. Test what you know with the composer quiz.

For more composers by era, see classical composers for kids.