He was born on October 27, 1782 in Genoa, a fine port in northern Italy, near the Mediterranean Sea. His father, a small businessman, had little education but loved music and was a guitar and mandolin amateur. His father taught him to play the mandolin and hired a theater violinist to teach him the violin at the age of seven, and later studied with Genoa's most famous violinist.
His musical talents were fully realized at an early age, and he could immediately and easily play any piece of music. At the same time he learned to compose, and by the age of eight he was writing violin sonatas, and at the age of twelve he gave a public recital in Genoa, which was a great success.
He began traveling for performances at age 13. From his early teens, Paganini studied with many different teachers, including Giovanni Servetto and Alessandro Rolla, but he was unable to handle this early success properly.
When he was sixteen, he began to gamble and drink, and it was at this time that Dita saved him by taking him to her home, where he began to study the violin again, *** for three years. During these three years he also played the guitar. in 1805 he was the violin soloist in the Lugar court orchestra.
After 1825 he traveled throughout Vienna, Germany, Paris and England, where he also played guitar and viola. On the night of May 27, 1840, at the age of fifty-eight, the man known as the "god of the violin" and "king of music" passed away.
Expanded:
Related:
Paganini, in turn, introduced more advanced techniques to performers and composers. Through his contributions, the composition of violin works was greatly enriched. His music featured very rich and difficult fingerings and bowings to please the listener and to challenge his peers of the time. His concert works have contrapuntal bowing, harmonization, pizzicato (both hands), and rich intervals (up to the Great Tenth).
Paganini's compositions are not considered perfect counterpoint compositions: (Isai has complained that in Paganini's music the piano and orchestral accompaniment are too much like the guitar, lacking in character and counterpoint). But he extended the timbre and color of the violin to an unprecedented degree. Paganini was also a brilliant guitarist and composed over 200 works for this instrument.
Baidu Encyclopedia - Paganini