 Freeman-Attwood was born in Woking on 4 November 1961, the son of Major Harold Warren Freeman-Attwood and Marigold Diana Sneyd Freeman-Attwood (née Philips).He attended Milton Abbey School between 1975 and 1980.He read music at the University of Toronto (BMus) and graduated with First Class Honours before embarking on research at Christ Church, Oxford (MPhil).