In 1718 he became oboist in the Polish court chapel. About this time he began to play the flute and in 1728 he became flute instructor to the Crown Prince of Prussia, later Frederick the Great, who after becoming king in 1740 persuaded Quantz in 1741 to settle in Berlin as chamber musician and court composer.

Quantz composed hundreds of flute sonatas and concertos, and wrote On Playing the Flute, an influential treatise on flute performance.