The boy had his first piano lessons when he was about eight years old, from a family friend, Mr. Juan Buitrago, a native of Bogota, South America.  Mr. Buitrago became greatly interested in Edward and asked permission to teach him his notes.  At that time the boy was not considered a prodigy, or even precocious, though he seemed to have various gifts.  He was fond of covering his music and exercise books with little drawings, which showed he had the innate skill of a born artist.  Then he liked to scribble bits of verses and stories and invent fairy tales.  He could improvise little themes at the piano, but was not fond of technical drudgery at the instrument in those early days.

The lessons with Mr. Buitrago continued for several years, and then he was taken to a professional piano teacher, Paul Desvernine, with whom he remained till he was fifteen.  During this time he received occasional lessons from the brilliant Venezuelan pianist, Teresa Carreno, who admired his gifts and later played his piano concertos.

Edward was now fifteen, and his family considered he was to become a musician.  In those days and for long after, even to the present moment, it was thought necessary for Americans to go to Europe for serious study and artistic finish.  It was therefore determined the boy should go to Paris for a course in piano and theory at the Conservatoire.  In April, 1876, accompanied by his mother, he left America for France.

He passed the examinations and began the autumn term as a pupil of Marmontel in piano and of Savard in theory and composition.

Edward’s knowledge of French was very uncertain, and while he could get along fairly well in the piano class, he had considerable trouble in following the lessons in theory.  He determined to make a special study of the language, and a teacher was engaged to give him private lessons.

His passion for drawing was liable to break out at any moment.  During one of the lesson hours he was varying the monotony by drawing, behind his book, a picture of his teacher, whose special facial characteristic was a very large nose.  Just as the sketch was finished he was detected and was asked to show the result.  The professor, instead of being angry, considered it a remarkable likeness and asked to keep it.  Shortly after this the professor called on Mrs. MacDowell, telling her he had shown the drawing to an eminent painter, also an instructor at the Ecole des Beaux Arts.  The painter had been so greatly impressed with the boy’s talent that he offered him a three years’ course of free instruction, under his own supervision.  He also promised to be responsible for Edward’s support during that time.

This was a vital question to decide; the boy’s whole future hung in the balance.  Mrs. MacDowell, in her perplexity, laid the whole matter before Marmontel, who strongly advised against diverting her son from a musical career.  The decision was finally left to Edward himself, and he chose to remain at the Conservatoire.