The place where Schnabel was born was called Kunzendorf. It was near a town that was called Bielitz, in Austria-Hungary. Now Kunzendorf is called Lipnik, and Bielitz is called Bielsko-Biała, and it is in Poland. When he was two years old his family moved to Vienna. He started to play the piano when he was four. When he was nine he started to take piano lessons with the famous teacher Theodore Leschetizsky. He studied with Leschetizsky for seven years, until 1897. He also studied music theory and composition with Eusebius Mandyczewski. He gave his first concert in Vienna in 1897. After that he played more concerts in Budapest and Prague and Brno.