| Timeline |
| 1685 |
Born 21 March at Eisenach |
| 1695 |
Orphaned at the age of 10 |
| 1700 |
Chorister at St. Michael's church, Lüneburg; taught by organist Georg Böhm. |
| 1703 |
Appointed organist at the New Church at Arnstadt |
| 1707 |
Marries his cousin Maria Barbara Bach; they have 7 children. |
| 1708 |
Becomes organist to the Duke of Saxe-Weimar |
| 1717 |
Appointed Kapellmeister to court of Anhalt-Cöthen |
| 1720 |
Maria Barbara dies |
| 1721 |
Bach marries Anna Magdalena Wilcken and 13 children follow |
| 1723 |
Appointed Kantor at the Thomasschule, Leipzig |
| 1740 |
Eyesight begins to fail |
| 1750 |
Dies in Leipzig on the 28th of July |
