A month in..

Wow! I have a blog! how cool am I??!!

So..a month into my London dream/experience/adventure and its pretty much everything I hoped and prayed it would be! Plus a bit more sometimes. Thats not to say that it has been easy; a lot of you know how stressful it was finding a place to live and it turns out that if you plan on moving on a certain day, you can be sure it will be the day after!! But a minor setback!

I guess with this being my first blog I'll just explain why I've decided to start one. It's predominantly for myself to keep a record of my thoughts and experiences as I study at Vocaltech and to maybe look back and see how I progress. I also thought that for those of you who are interested, you can keep reasonably up to date with my life in London; everything moves so fast here that I scarce get time to digest it all myself!!

If you're expecting a funny blog, I'll try my best, but no promises..maybe I'll put up some funny videos, of when I fall off stage or trip up on a mic lead (all things that DEFINATELY haven't happened...ahem!). 

I'll give you a quick and brief rundown of a typical week at the Tech music school (I want to work as a singer in the music industry if you hadn't guessed already). Basically I'm on the master performance course and there are about 17 singers, guitarists, drummers and wait for it 2 bass players! But they're pretty awesome...shout out to Dave Wademan in my band!! Oh and 4 keyboard players..woops! We have individual classes; technique, rhythm skills, stage techniques (funniest 2 hours of my week with William our southern American), advanced techniques, concepts, sight singing...the list goes on. Then each week we have a live performance workshop where we're given songs to learn (from the record! no music!) and then we perform in a live setting. It's great practice and getting less nerve racking each week. We have private lessons as well which are amazing...one of my teachers Anabelle, you gotta hear this girl! She's really sweet as well! So all of this leads up to our showcase of which we have 6 I think...and here we choose 3 songs to perform in a live venue (the Redback in Acton). The first one of these is in November and I can't wait!! Thats the gist although there's still so much more that we do!

I've made some really good friends already and its so special to be in a place where everyone is passionate about music, the industry and is determined to build a career. Its encouraging to have these people around you and pushing you to be better. Some of the most talented session musicians in London, even Europe...the world maybe!!lol teach us here and I'm learning so much; mostly I have to say about having the right attitude, which isn't easy in such a cut throat business.

I hope that was a bit informative. 

Last night we had a master class with a lady called Sharleen Linton, a successful session singer who has worked with Natasha Bedingfield, Beverly Knight, John Legend, Craig David.... and one thing among many that she said, stuck out for me; she said that you simply need to go for it, grab every opportunity and more importantly, stay true to yourself! Sounds 'cringe city' but its so true and as someone who knows that all of this, however hard it is to understand, fits into Gods plan for my life somehow and if I stick with him and stay true to His bigger picture, i'll hopefully find out more. As i said to Sharleen last night, I've known what I've wanted to do since I was 3 1/2...seriously, it only dawned on me last night and I know not everyone works that way and I've had other ideas in my head as to my future, but ultimately my passion to sing and share music has always been there! Ask anyone at college...say the phrase '9 to 5 job' and you will find singer/guitarist/drummer shaped holes through the walls! lol...i'm just picturing that...

I'm sure these blogs will have highs and lows and for those of you who know the real 'Betty' from Portadown, I would love you're continued prayers. I love being here but no matter how many people are with you each day, its still lonely sometimes and its gonna be tough. I'm still looking for a church family and a job! So you could remember those things.

I love you all and please leave some comments on my blog and if you want, share some of your thoughts!!