 Like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart before him , Mendelssohn was regarded as a child prodigy . He began taking piano lessons from his mother when he was six , and at seven was tutored by Marie Bigot in Paris . After the family moved to Berlin , all four Mendelssohn children studied piano with Ludwig Berger , who was himself a former student of Muzio Clementi . From at least May 1819 Felix ( and his sister Fanny ) studied counterpoint and composition with Carl Friedrich Zelter in Berlin . This was an important influence on his future career . Zelter had almost certainly been recommended as a teacher by his aunt Sarah Levy , who had been a pupil of W. F. Bach and a patron of C. P. E. Bach . Sarah Levy was a talented keyboard player in her own right , often playing with Zelter 's orchestra at the Sing @-@ Akademie zu Berlin , of which she and the Mendelssohn family were leading patrons . Sarah had formed an important collection of Bach family manuscripts which she bequeathed to the Singakademie ; Zelter , whose tastes in music were conservative , was also an admirer of the Bach tradition . This undoubtedly played a significant part in forming Felix Mendelssohn 's musical tastes . His works show his study of Baroque and early classical music . His fugues and chorales especially reflect a tonal clarity and use of counterpoint reminiscent of Johann Sebastian Bach , by whose music he was deeply influenced . 
