Alessandro Scarlatti was born on May 2, 1660 in either Palermo or Trapani, Sicily, at that time part of the Kingdom of Sicily. Nothing is known of his early musical education. In 1672 he was sent to live with a relative in Rome. 

It is generally believed by modern scholars that while there he was schooled by the composer Giacomo Cassini. It is also believed by many that he must have had contact with teachers from Northern Italy, since his early works show influence by Alessandro Stradella and Giovanni Legrenzi.