Born to Smt. Akhila Siva and A.N. Siva, Sri. Vijay Siva had his schooling in Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Senior Secondary School, Chennai and graduated from Vivekananda College, Chennai. After initial training in vocal music from his mother, a gold medalist from Carnatic Music College, Chennai, he came under the tutelage of D.K. Jayaraman in 1977 and later continued to take expert guidance from Smt. D.K. Pattammal. Also trained in mridangam by Kumbakkonam Rajappa Iyer and his disciple Srirangarajapuram Jayaraman.