Monteux was born in Paris and started to learn the violin when he was six. When he was nine he learned at the Paris Conservatoire. When he was twelve he conducted an orchestra in Paris with the pianist Alfred Cortot as soloist. He played in orchestras, and was the principal of the viola section in the first performance of Debussy’s opera "Pelléas et Mélisande". He started to conduct some of the concerts in the series Concerts Colonne.