Forte

Forte is an online marketplace for live, one-on-one music lessons, connecting students with verified instructors worldwide. Founded in 2020 and based in New York, it was created to overcome the limitations of general video-conferencing tools for music instruction, and in 2024 it merged with Virtu.Academy, expanding its instructor and student base.

Students begin with a short six-question survey (skill level, goals, genre, budget), receive curated teacher recommendations, can book trial lessons with multiple teachers, then schedule recurring live sessions. Forte covers 41 disciplines including violin, guitar, piano, woodwinds, brass, voice, theory, composition, and production. Instructors are verified through credentials from bodies such as Trinity College of Music London and the Royal Conservatory of Music.

Trial lessons start as low as $13 for 30 minutes, and ongoing rates are set by each teacher and shown before booking, with a money-back match guarantee. A differentiator is "Forte Pure Audio," proprietary high-resolution audio designed to capture musical nuance better than standard conferencing tools. It suits music students who want vetted teachers plus audio quality optimised specifically for online lessons.