TEENAGERS can banish the summer holiday boredom by taking steps towards becoming music writers, songwriters or DJs.

Basildon Council has organised a series of vocational courses for youngsters aged 13 to 19 to get them off the streets over the summer.

The ten Boom Room workshops are accredited courses covering cover music journalism, lyric-writing, singing and DJing.

There will also be courses in the history of music, digital music production, recording, podcasting, radio production and music video production.

Andrew Baggott, Basildon councillor responsible for community, said: “These courses give young people a great chance to learn new skills they can apply in a hobby or future career.

“We’re using music to help teenagers develop their talents, because it’s a subject many of them are passionate about.

“We hope the courses will be interesting and enjoyable and give young our people a springboard to achieve their ambitions.”

The Boom Room workshops, are all subsidised by the council and cost just £10 each.

Aspiring broadcasters can learn how to operate a studio, host a show and put together jingles.

Young people taking the audio recording course can learn how to operate a professional recording studio and use it to get to record a live band.

Would-be singers taking the vocal coaching course will receive tips on how to improve their voices and brush up their performance.

Budding writers will learn the tricks of writing a review and interviewing bands. Their work will be published on a MySpace page on the internet.

Youngsters who successfully complete the course will gain an Open College Network accreditation and an Essex Arts Award. For full details of the courses and to book places on them, call 01268 465465.