Daniel Achten’s Piano Technician journey began while working at a music store named Music Central (sic). The owner and close friend offered to put him through school at the American School of Piano Tuning in California. He immediately fell in love with tuning and fixing pianos, became the in-house technician for the music store and soon thereafter built his own clientele. He has lived in Chattanooga, TN since 2012 and passed a series of grueling exams to become a Registered Piano Technician (RPT) with the Piano Technicians Guild (PTG). He serviced pianos for the local Steinway Dealer, Summitt Pianos, for 5 years and for the Local Yamaha Dealer, Bill Jones music in Ooltewah, until they closed the Ooltewah Location. And since 2017 has been the Concert Tuner/Technician for Lee University.
He has pursued music since 1989 when he first picked up his mother’s guitar. Eventually this led to studying Classical and Jazz guitar at Christopher Newport University, an NASM accredited school. Piano was his minor. He has participated in a variety of music ranging from theater to jazz, rock, funk, folk and classical ensembles. He also holds a Bachelors Degree in Theology from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. And is ABT in an M.A. in Ethics at the same institution.
Besides a piano business he also owned his own home remodeling business for over 20 years, built his own house and log cabin and also spent two years repairing and building guitars with the Isle of Wight Instrument Co., which became Merril Guitars.