Bach was born in Eisenach and was the son of
Johann Bernhard Bach and studied in the Thomasschule in Leipzig with
Johann Sebastian Bach (Johann Bernhard's second cousin). In 1742 he was hired as the official advocate in Eisenach. From 1756, he was Court music of Duke Ernst August of Saxe-Weimar. His son Johann Georg Bach succeeded him as organist at the Church of St. George in Eisenach.