John Thompson (18891963) was born in Williamstown, Pennsylvania. He began music study at the age of five, and his parents encouraged his prodigious talent by sending him to study piano with Maurits Leefson at the Leefson-Hille Conservatory in Philadelphia, graduating in 1909. At the same time, he studied composition with Dr. Hugh Clark at the University of Pennsylvania.

In his early twenties, Thompson toured the United States and Europe as a concert pianist, receiving respectable reviews and performing with several European orchestras. His best-selling method books "Teaching Little Fingers to Play" and "Modern Course for the Piano" were first published by the Willis Music Company in the mid-30s. These publications have had a profound influence on millions of musicians today, and continue to have an impact on the teaching of piano in America and throughout the world.