August 18, 2021
Musical Ladder CEO Is Climbing International Steps
Columbia, SC (WLTX)- A Columbia entrepreneur is making international noise with his music program, the Musical Ladder.
There's something about feeling a part of a band, that was missing for music teacher Marty Fort. "The big problem is since it's one on one lessons, it's hard to keep [students]" explained Fort.
After a "Shark Tank" moment with Mark Cuban, Fort was inspired to come back to the Midlands and take his Columbia Arts Academy to a whole new level.
He created a ladder system for music classes. Students have an individualized curriculum that elevates them to a higher level each time they either pass a test or are able to play a new song. Every time they move up, they get a band, a certificate and a trophy.
The Musical Ladder has received federal trademark, patent pending status and has licensed the program to 70 music schools in the U.S. Canada and Australia in only 6 months.
"The reason it works is that it’s not curriculum based it can be anything, it can be a song, it can be a scale, I’m a big believer in every student is different, every student is unique so one student may need this kind of a test, another student may need a different so the reason it really works is it’s individualized to the age interest of the student and the teacher has total freedom to make the test what they want it to be" said Fort.
This system has impressed talent throughout the states and right here, in the Midlands.
Tenton Spilker, a 4th grader, has been a part of the program for a year now and has reached level 4 of 13.
Showing off his stack of bands, he says it makes him feel accomplished every time he makes it to a new level.
