Charles Ives was born in Danbury, Connecticut. His father George Ives was a U.S. Army bandleader in the American Civil War. His mother was a singer. His father taught him a great deal about the music and encouraged him to experiment with new sounds. As well as teaching him counterpoint and introducing him to the music of J.S.Bach he trained his son’s musical ear by getting him to sing a tune in one key while he played the accompaniment in another. In this way the young Charles became used to modern sounds that were quite different from traditional, Romantic music. Charles also listened in Danbury town square to his father's marching band and other bands that were playing on other sides of the square, so that he heard a mixture of several pieces of music at the same time. His father also taught him the music of Stephen Foster. 