Bethesda 7-Year-Old Aiden Adams Smashes YouTube with Original Music Video ‘For Elise’

A day in the life of a 7-year-old might include playing sports, attending school and hanging out with family and friends.

For Aiden Adams, his time also includes performing in music videos.

His song “For Elise”—an ode to his best friend—is a rock rendition of Beethoven’s “Für Elise.” The video was released on YouTube Sept. 4. Nearly a month later, it has more than 60,000 views. His YouTube channel has more than 8,000 subscribers. The song is also available on iTunes.

“This song is only for Elise./She holds the keys/To love and peace/For Elise,” Aiden shares through his song.

The Montgomery Virtual Academy student lives in Bethesda with his parents and three siblings. Except for the guitar solo, Aiden arranged the song and wrote the lyrics. The choice of music came naturally. When he thought of the name Elise, the Beethoven composition just popped into his head, he says.

In the video, sweeping aerial shots show Aiden’s shoulder-length hair flopping as he runs through a tree-lined field. The camera zooms in to show him plucking petals off a red rose and reclining in a velvet turquoise armchair.

“We were going for this really kind of glam rock ‘n’ roll look,” says Aiden’s father, Neal Adams.

But he was quick to point out that many of the creative ideas were his son’s suggestions.

“He came up with a lot of the ideas on his own,” Adams says. “He said, ‘I want to be in this big field, and I want a pond nearby.’”

So they drove an hour and a half at 5 a.m. to Wolftrap Farm, in Gordonsville, Virginia, and Aiden’s older brother edited footage that his friend filmed on a drone, along with close-ups from Adams’ phone.

“I felt very happy,” Aiden says about the video’s popularity online—although this experience is hardly the first time the 7-year-old has found fame.

His website, aidenbooks.com, shows numerous video projects online—from mashups to fun challenges—and he has written five books. He even has fans. (A Miss Susan from his neighborhood brought him Legos because she liked his videos.)

Aiden wrote his first book about a search for sheep in New York City when he was only 4 years old. Adams illustrated most of the books, which are self-published on Amazon.

“Finally, it became real and I was so amazed,” Aiden says. “I like imagination, and I like stories.”

Adams says Aiden has always been keyed into his imagination.

“Even at the age of 2, he would sit with me at my desk, and I would have my papers that I worked on, and he wanted his own set of papers,” he says.

Most of Aiden’s stories have an underlying message or lesson—something very important to him. His first music video—released in March—was a song called “I Love You Earth,” which featured a message about caring for the planet.

“It’s important to send messages to the world that help the Earth and everyone on Earth,” Aiden says. “My books also do that same thing. So that’s my goal.”

In fact, Aiden has a lot of goals in life. “I also want to be (an) actor. And also a doctor. And also a president. And a rock star,” he says. But Adams says no matter what they are, Aiden’s family will be there to support him.

“We’re just letting him be a kid and do what he enjoys,” he says. “My main goal is to encourage him and help him achieve his goals.”

“And before they had kids, they were achieving their goals!” Aiden says of his parents.

Currently, Aiden’s goals include releasing more books (his next book, “Buttons,” is out this October) and starting a band. Once he has eight songs under his belt, Aiden says he’ll perform them with others—including with Elise, who plays piano.

“We’re really proud of him,” Adams says. “He works very hard.”