Gospel music is heartfelt and inspirational. It has introduced the world to BeBe and CeCe Winans, Kirk Franklin and Yolanda Adams, to name a few of the many well-known gospel artists. If gospel music has touched your life in a way that makes you want to share music with the rest of the world, pursuing a career in this music industry may be your calling. The music industry is very competitive, even among gospel music artists, so it is important that your focus remain on sharing your talent rather than getting famous.

Take singing lessons. Even if you have vocal chords that resemble Whitney Houston’s, you will benefit from singing lessons. With lessons, you will learn how to properly warm up your voice, and breathe properly. You will also learn how to sing louder and techniques to keep your vocal chords healthy and callous-free. Singing lessons will also teach you how to sight-read read music. Although the majority of singing lessons involve learning how to sing classical, opera-style music (which may not be your favorite), mastering the techniques taught will improve the strength of your singing voice and vocal range.

Create your own image and develop a trademark. Every famous singer has an image for which he is known. No matter how well a person sings, she is always going to be known for a personal attribute, such as clothing styles, tattoos, hairstyles, her behavior and so on. Make sure your image as a gospel singer is based on something positive.

A trademark is a logo, dance move or even a piece of jewelry others will associate with you when they see it. For example, Mariah Carey’s trademark is a butterfly, Michael Jackson’s was the moonwalk, and Prince has a symbol he used to write his name with in the past.

Be original. Develop you own singing style and do not try to sound like other singers. If people want to hear whomever it is your singing resembles, they will buy that artist’s CD. Having your own style of singing will make you unique, which is what the public appreciates and wants to hear.

Sing all the time. Whenever there is a chance to sing for your church, take it. If there is an opening in a school musical, try out for it. Take any and every chance you get to sing in public. Doing this will help you get over stage fright and may lead to being spotted by an executive in the music business.

Work with a band, perhaps from church, to record your compositions in a recording studio. Send your demos to radio stations and record labels to gain exposure. Consider uploading a video of you singing on YouTube to promote yourself.