Sola was born in Turin, where he studied the violin with Gaetano Pugnani, also the guitar (with Pipino) and flute (with Vondano), and played flute in the orchestra of the local Teatro Regio. His date of birth has recently been put into doubt; he may also have been born in either 1781 or in 1789. According to Bone, "he served four years on the band of the 73rd Regiment of French Infantry and tiring of a military life settled in 1809 in Geneva", where he also received tuition in composition from Dominique Bideau, a local cellist. 1816 saw the production of his opera Le Tribunal in Geneva.