Bach came from a respected musical family. His great ancestor, the baker Fitter Bach, was a music fan. Even when he went to the mill to grind flour, he took his beloved zither (a plucked instrument popular in Germany and Austria) with him. His great-grandfather Johannes (about 1580-1626) was a well-known musician. Johannes' eldest son Johann (1604-1673) was the first composer of the Bach family. Talisdorf (1613-1661) was Bach's grandfather and a musician; his third son, Heinrich, was also a famous musician.

In addition, the musicians Bach admired when he was a boy were also the most famous German music masters at that time, Han Robert Gale (1616-1667) and Kehl (1627-1693)