Van Eechaute was thirteen when he won first prize in solfège at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent. He had also learned the cello and played in Cinema Royal and other cinema bands to support the needs of the family after the early death of his father.He became a teacher at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent (1927-1934): solfège, harmony, counterpoint and fugue. In 1937 he became director of the music school in Eeklo and in 1938 of the municipal music academy in Kortrijk, which was promoted to conservatory two years later.
