List of child music prodigies
A child prodigy is defined in psychology research literature as a person under the age of ten who produces meaningful output in some domain to the level of an adult expert performer. This is a list of young children who displayed a talent in music deemed to make them competitive with skilled adult musicians. The list is sorted by genre and instrument.
Classical
Piano
Strings
- Niccolò Paganini
- Joseph Joachim
- Jascha Heifetz
- Yehudi Menuhin
- Ida Haendel
Composing
| Name | Born | Talent | Debut | Notes |
| Samuel Barber | 1910 | Composer, conductor | 7 | Attempted an opera at age ten; attended the Curtis Institute of Music at age fourteen |
| Frédéric Chopin | 1810 | Composer | 7 | Began concerts and polonaises at age seven; attained notability by age fifteen |
| Felix Mendelssohn | 1809 | Composer, conductor | 9 | |
| Gian Carlo Menotti | 1911 | Composer | 7 | Composed first opera at age eleven |
| Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | 1756 | Composer | 4 | His first compositions were Andante and Allegro |
| Niccolò Paganini | 1782 | Composer, violinist | 7 |