Ely Cannon begin his music studies on the trumpet at the age of 12. At the age of 17 he received a music scholarship to a local college where he started his music career and studied under Mr Jose London and Mr Sanford O Neil. In 1976 he was granted a position with the Eubank School of Music where he gave private lessons and arranged for the stage band. He decided to relocate to the west coast where he studied orchestration and film scoring. After being influenced by string arranger / composer Gene Page and Thom Bell he decided to become a music composer.