Singing

If singing is your passion then there's lots of things you can do to get better.

Step up to the stage, grab a mic and start singing! Most of us sing in the shower or bedroom, but if you are really into singing you could make sure that everyone knows it by plugging in your karaoke machine, choosing your favourite song, and belting it out.

If you reckon you can hold a tune then you can take it even further...

Get lessons

A lot of people make the mistake that singing lessons are for those who can’t sing, but in fact, the opposite is probably far closer to the truth. Most singers in the public eye will have vocal coaches who help them with pitching and breathing. So if you’re interested in making a living from singing, it might be worth seeing if a vocal coach could teach you anything.

Finding yourself a singing teacher shouldn’t be difficult as you can ask your music teacher at school if they have any contacts.

Joining a choir

If you’re interested in joining a choir, you’re probably already in one at your school. If not, what are you thinking?! If the problem is that you don’t think there is one, then ask around, and if there isn’t one, encourage a musical member of staff to help you start one.

And if you want to be involved in choir singing on a larger scale, then the National Youth Choir of Scotland (NYCOS) could very well be the thing for you. They have choirs for girls, and also for boys (usually aged 13-15). Check out the National Youth Choir of Scotland website for all the details, or give them a phone on 0141 287 2856 0141 287 2856.

Joining a choir is one of the best ways to get involved in singing, because not only is it good practice, it will help you learn about harmonising and singing with others, and if you get an important solo it could be the perfect opportunity to show off all your singing potential to the world.

Performing in musicals

The best way to get into musicals is to work your way up and just have loads and loads of confidence in yourself. Very rarely will you get someone in a musical that doesn’t have an absolutely amazing voice, and usually they’re singing while performing complicated dance routines and acting too – so it’s a difficult but really cool thing to get into.

The way to do it is to audition when there’s a show in town. Generally, even the biggest shows will only bring a part of the cast to each city of a touring musical, and audition locals for the other parts. So make sure you’re there, ready to sing and dance and act your heart out, and you could end up bagging yourself a pretty important role. The more roles you manage to get, the more your name will get known in the theatre scene, and then the offers for lead roles should come pouring in.

Often schools have musicals on the go so you could audition for that to get some experience before taking on the world.

Becoming a pop singer

Ask around to see if any bands are looking for a singer. There might be bands in your school who are on the look out for someone with a good voice. You could maybe even set up your own group.

Alternatively, find out where the latest auditions are for the X Factor. If you’re lucky enough to get through, it’s probably a much faster route to the top. But it could also be potentially quite embarrassing and lead to a much faster route straight back down to the bottom again.