Editing Moondog (section)

===Early life===
Hardin was born in [[Marysville, Kansas]], to Louis Thomas Hardin, an [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopalian]] minister, and Norma Alves.<ref name="Larkin">{{cite book |title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music]] |date=1997 |publisher=[[Virgin Books]] |isbn=1-85227-745-9 |editor=Colin Larkin |editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer) |edition=Concise |pages=869–870}}</ref><ref name="moondogscorner.de">{{Cite web |title=Outline of Robert Scotto´s Biography |url=https://www.moondogscorner.de/biography/scotto.html |access-date=2022-06-07 |website=www.moondogscorner.de}}</ref> Hardin started playing a set of drums that he made from a cardboard box at the age of five. His family relocated to [[Wyoming]], where his father opened a [[trading post]] at [[Fort Bridger]]. At one point, his father took him to an [[Arapaho]] [[Sun Dance]] where he sat on the lap of Chief Yellow Calf and played a [[Tom-tom drum|tom-tom]] made from [[Bison hunting|buffalo skin]]. He also played drums for the high school band in [[Hurley, Missouri]].

On July 4, 1932, the 16-year-old Hardin found an object in a field which he did not realise was a [[detonator|dynamite cap]]. While he was handling it, the explosive detonated in his face and permanently blinded him.<ref>{{cite web |author=Thomas Heinrich |url=http://moondogscorner.de/biography/scotto.html |title=Moondog (Louis Hardin) Biography |website=Moondogscorner.de |date=1916-05-26 |access-date=2017-12-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=Zachary Crockett |title=The Genius of Moondog, New York's Homeless Composer|url=https://priceonomics.com/the-legend-of-moondog-new-yorks-homeless-composer/ |website=priceonomics.com |date=22 January 2015|access-date=2 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171202122143/https://priceonomics.com/the-legend-of-moondog-new-yorks-homeless-composer/|archive-date=2 December 2017}}</ref><ref name="The marvellous life of Moondog">{{cite web |title=The marvellous life of Moondog |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2003/nov/17/classicalmusicandopera.usa |website=The Guardian|date=17 November 2003 }}</ref> His older sister, Ruth, would read to him daily after the accident for many years. Here he had his first encounters with philosophy, science and myth that formed his character. One book in particular, ''The First Violin'' by [[Jessie Fothergill]], inspired him to pursue music. Up to that point he had been interested mainly in [[Percussion instrument|percussion]] instruments, but from then on, he became obsessed with the desire to become a [[composer]].<ref name="moondogscorner.de"/>

After learning the principles of music in several schools for blind young men across middle America, he taught himself the skills of [[ear training]] and composition. He studied with [[Burnet Tuthill]] at the [[Iowa School for the Blind]].<ref name="Larkin" />

He then moved to [[Batesville, Arkansas]], where he lived until 1942, when he obtained a scholarship to study in [[Memphis, Tennessee]]. Although he was largely self-taught in music, learning predominantly by ear, he learned some music theory from books in [[braille]] during his time in Memphis.

In 1943, Hardin moved to New York, where he met [[classical music]]ians including [[Leonard Bernstein]] and [[Arturo Toscanini]], as well as jazz performers such as [[Charlie Parker]] and [[Benny Goodman]], whose upbeat tempos and often humorous compositions would influence Hardin's later work. One of his early street posts was near the [[52nd Street (Manhattan)|52nd Street]] nightclub strip, and he was known to jazz musicians. By 1947, Hardin had adopted the name "Moondog" in honor of a dog "who used to howl at the moon more than any dog I knew of."<ref name="Larkin"/>