 Learning to play by ear, he demonstrated such talent and ability that he was accepted into the local orchestra of Russian folk instruments.He enrolled in a music school in 1929, and following the advice of his teacher, M. Krutinsky, came to Leningrad in 1932, where he studied piano at the Leningrad Central Music College, graduating in 1936.From 1936 to 1941, Sviridov studied at the Leningrad Conservatory under Pyotr Ryazanov and Dmitri Shostakovich.