 Nevertheless, from 1708 to 1713 he began his musical studies as a child with his uncle Justus Quantz, a town musician in Merseburg; he also studied for a time with a cousin's husband, the organist Johann Friedrich Kiesewetter.From 1714 on, Quantz studied composition extensively and pored over scores of the masters to adopt their style.In 1716 he joined the town band in Dresden, where in 1717 he studied counterpoint with Jan Dismas Zelenka.