 He was the son of Friedrich Wilhelm Pixis (1755-1805), who in 1790 followed his own father to become Preceptor and Organist at the Evangelical Reformed Church.Johann Peter's older brother, also Friedrich Wilhelm Pixis (1785-1842), was a violinist who later became prominent in the musical life of Prague.The two brothers received early musical training from their father, who took the talented boys on concert tours beginning in 1797; they traveled through Germany and to Denmark, Russia (St. Petersburg), and Poland (Warsaw).