He was born into a family of musicians

The Bach family was largely very musically minded, which is one of the most interesting facts about Johann Sebastian Bach. He came from a distinguished musical family that was proud of its accomplishments, and around 1735 he wrote a genealogy called Ursprung der musicalisch-Bachischen Familie (literally, "Origin of the Musical Bach Family"). Piper was Bach's great-grandfather. His paternal grandparents played court music. His father played the violin, the organ, the court trumpet, and the kettledrum. He has at least two composer uncles. The three Johann brothers who survived to adulthood out of his five brothers all became musicians. Additionally, J.S. Bach had 20 children, at least five of whom went on to pursue careers as composers and survived childhood. Over 50 well-known musicians came from the family over seven generations, according to legend.

Bach spent two years studying music at the St. Michael's School in Lüneburg to acquire his start in the field. Then he departed for Germany to begin a variety of musical positions, including serving as Prince Leopold and other Lutheran churches' music directors.

"[S]tarting with Veit Bach, the founding father of this family, all his descendants, down to the seventh generation, have dedicated themselves to the profession of music, with only a few exceptions," reads the Nekrolog, Bach's son Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's obituary.