How does one go about getting started if they are interested in singing bgv's (background vocals)?

To sing background vocals you need;

Vocal training to be able to perform the feats of what I call a "stunt singer". It takes more stamina and control to be a great background singer than to be a lead singer, because you will have to trace and blend with another voice perfectly, taking on the lead voice's tone, personality, rhythm, phrasing and accent, or adding whatever different texture of voice the producer wants to offset the lead singer's voice.
to be able to change your voice at the producer's request.

To be able to hear and create harmony parts.
experience singing background parts with live performers and/or backing vocals in a recording studio. No matter what kind of training you have, there's no substitute for actual experience. You need experience to get experience, so take whatever opportunity you can possibly find or afford to get in front of a stage or recording studio mic.

A demonstration (demo) recording of your voice. This can be a simple guitar or piano/vocal, a karaoke track with your voice recorded over it, or can be full instrumental tracks created just for you. Just make sure that your vocal performance is the most important thing you record. Don't spend money on tracks without budgeting enough time for great vocals.

Referrals from people you've sung with and sung for.
networking, networking, networking. This takes time and persistance, people skills are very necessary.
Go to writers nights and to concerts, hang out with musicians and songwriters you know. If you know any session singers, you might ask them to sing with you and assess how well they think you do.

To realize that you may need to keep your day job. Background work is very competitive and usually has a great deal to do with being at the right place at the right time. Sometimes when someone else can't make a session, an untried singer will get a chance. However, it is important to be generous of spirit, to support and recommend other singers trying to get work as well. Undercutting your fellow session singer will come back to bite you. It usually takes years to break in to regular session work. Make sure you build the right reputation.

Lyric tips for songwriters.

In my humble opinion, no matter what the musical genre, a well-written song should have the following characteristics:
The Lyric:

Should be written with intellegence and cleverness, avoiding trite phrases and cliches.

Should try to say something unique about the subject. Drawing from true personal experience helps find the most unique perspective.

Even if written third person, should be written from the vantage point of a participant instead of a spectator to the story. Writing from a personal vantage point makes is much stronger and more real than writing what you think someone else knows or wants to hear.

Should be consistant in its language (if it's earthy, say it with "down-to-earth" language all the way through the song... if poetic, keep that voice going... if easily understandable with clear images, or if more obscure and symbolic as in many great pop songs, be sure it sounds like the same person talking in the whole song.

Needs to say that which will make the listener connect with the singer on an emotional level, even if that level is just a happy or freed feeling.

Should make the listener identify and actually like the singer (duh); the listener frequently will take on the singer's persona while listening.

Should make the listener feel loved. Yes. Loved. ie... what would every woman want her man to say to her (and it could be "I'm sorry, I was wrong"!) What would every man want his woman to say to him? (and yes, it also could be "I'm sorry, I was wrong")

Should bring the listener wisdom, anger at things done wrong, fun, story, drama, and/or empathy with hard places that actually point to solutions (I lost you and I learned how to be a better person, I lost you and learned how to love myself, I lost you and you're gonna miss me, I lost you and I will miss you but I can love again, I lost you but I love you enough to let you go and I'll be fine... etc.)

Should not be "preachy". Instead... just tell the story and let your audience draw conclusions. They don't trust you when you condescend or preach, like you are smarter/better/wiser than them.

Should not lead to hopelessness, unresolved hatred or violence towards others.

Should if at all possible have an unexpected twist or two.

Should have some kind of structured pattern of lines.

Here are some tips on writing the music.

The Music:
Should have a memorable melody.
Should have structured patterns of rhythm.
These structures can be more free-form, however it takes experience and study of patterned music to learn how to create free form music, such as musical theater dialog set to music, art music, etc.

Most of the time I see a lack of patterned rhythm, I hear badly stitched together pieces of music that instantly cry out... well, BAD.
stands out better with an unpredictable melody line and/or chord progression. However, should be something that still fits the genre you are writing for.

SHOULD BE SINGABLE:
Watch words and word combinations that the tongue finds difficult... try to get your lyrics to flow from the mouth. I also find that many musicians who are not singers tend to write melodies that are not very singable. Writing wide vocal range songs can be good if you are pitching to singers with great range, but remember that male singers usually have larger ranges than females.
As suggested by either Quincy Jones or Baby Face (I can't remember which), melody should be strong played on piano without the bells and whistles of production.

Not always, but many times great melodies can cross genres when produced in varied ways, as in songs like "I Will Always Love You", "I Swear", "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight", etc.
should have a mesmerizing, identifying, great feeling and if possible, innovative groove if up- or mid- tempo when recorded - should be produced, with budget considerations, with as much quality and sonic excellence as possible, comparing the sound to current radio hits in that genre.

Here are some suggestions I have for studying and researching the subject of songwriting:

Study the lyrical and musical forms and rhythmic structures of songs YOU love. How many lines in the verse and chorus? How many beats in the lines? How did they make a "bridge"? How did they end the song? What was the musical "riff" that makes you think of the song?
Try taking a song you love and putting your own lyrics to that song's music.

You can't, of course, end up using that music, but you can structure your song the same way. Then you put new music to your lyrics.

Do you have any other thoughts, questions or insights?
Please join the conversation and click COMMENT.

Balancing strength in vocal muscle sets:

If you, like so many popular genre singers, have trouble straining in your upper chest voice, you may find the following insight helpful.

I know a young artist friend who had problems with pitch, control and range. She has developed a very natural, controlled voice and to get a major pop recording contract. I asked what her vocal teacher did to help her.

He told her that there are two different sets of muscles controlling head voice or "falsetto" voice (falsetto differs from head voice in that just the edges, instead of more area, of the vocal cords vibrate), and the chest, or lower vocal register.

She was told the head voice is controlled by crycothyroid muscles and the chest by the arytenoid muscles. I think in the following website illustration, she must mean the head voice is controlled by the cricoarytenoid muscles and the chest voice by the interarytenoid muscles. The vocal cords themselves are really the two thyroarytenoid muscles.

He told her that her problems lay in the uneven strength she had present between these two controlling sets of muscles. His training centered on strengthening the weak set (that controlled her head voice) to match the strength in the strong set (her chest voice).

Muscle naming aside, this makes all the sense in the world to me. Using exercises to strengthen head voice especially with people who strain in chest voice without knowing the specific anatomical reasons, and now have even more reason to use this insight with you. And big plus... this balance will also help you with your PITCH accuracy!

Here's my suggestion to you:
If you tend to strain at the upper end of your chest voice:

Practice singing in your head voice. Do exercises that take you up far higher that you'd sing songs, but be sure you're not leaning or pushing to do so. (You can even push in head voice!) Just go as high as you are able to without strain. Keep doing this on a regular basis and you will strengthen the muscles that control your upper register. I believe you'll find that your head voice will begin to influence your chest voice and you will be able to reach notes that were previously difficult to sing without pushing.

If you have been classically trained and find it hard to keep from bringing your head voice too low when doing contemporary (non-classical) songs,

Practice singing in your chest voice. Sing songs and do exercises that take you up into middle voice, but keep it "talking" voice. Important... while using this voice, DON'T PUSH. This should help, over time, strengthen the lower voice muscle set. If you're not sure what voice you're in, find a good voice teacher who can help you.

If you know what voice you are singing in, and can change the voice, you should find great benefit from doing this. Also remember the difference between what I call "pushing" and "pulling" words. One of the best things you can do for your voice is to learn to pull it out of your resonation spaces instead of push it in any way, with any muscles you want to name.

Weary Singer tips:

Do you ever have to sing tired?

If you had a background vocal session the other day that went longer than you expected it to. You began to physically tire.
As is my habit, I tried to make a mental note to share with you what helps.

At one point, you had to hold some high, long notes on that pesky vowel sound "e". You usually don't have much trouble, but your breath support was lagging due to  physical fatigue.

So what to do?

Make a conscious decision to move your jaw sideways in a very slight little chewing motion. NOT TOO MUCH, or it would cause a loss of control.

What you did to allowed your "e" vowel to relax more vertically.
You articulated the syllable, shifted your breath support/control into gear by stretching tall and squeezing from the pelvic floor, pulled the "e" from your voice path, and it was smooth sailing. It worked for other vowels, too.

IMPORTANT:
If you are doing master lead vocals in the studio and you're too tired to sing, in a word...DON'T!!!! You possibly can get by with tired demos and worktapes, but not master leads. The most important part of a master [a master project needs to be ready to pitch to labels, to sell and to be given airplay] is, after all the vocals.

Keep the Critic out of the Vocal Booth:

When you are in the vocal booth in the process of recording, there is a part of you that you must keep out: Your inner critique.

This is the part of you that says things like:
I'm flat on that note...
No, I'm sharp...
I'm not feeling it right now...
I got this track in the wrong key...
I can't hit that (high) (low) (long)... (soft) note coming up....
I should know better than to think I could do this.....
I am not getting this fast enough...
I suck....
They (the people in the control room) think I suck...

Now, I ask you:
What part of any of those questions has to do with delivering a message? We can take a lesson from children and puppies who are much better at being present in the moment when they have something they want to "say".

The vocal booth has room for two people:
the singer and the one (usually not physically present) being sung to. The time to critique is before you get into the booth (do pre-production to make sure it's a song or story you believe you can authentically deliver, and that the key is right) and after you leave the booth (while you're listening to playback with your vocal producer).

Singing, like writing, is a creative process. It's a simple mindset where you focus on telling the story with confidence and freedom. If you try to analyze, edit and critique your effort while you are in the middle of it, you will cripple your ability.

Think of a child coloring a picture while a parent tells them what they are doing wrong and how doing something different could make it better. The kid's gonna throw some crayons before long and give up. Let the child color; discuss coloring techniques later.
Don't sabotage yourself. It happens all the time. Instead choose to totally commit to your vocal performance.
Talk to your imaginary friend- to whom the song should be directed. This person is rarely anyone in the control room.
When you go into the vocal booth to perform, bring your inner creative child with you and leave your inner critic to cool it's heels till playback! You'll be so much better, I promise.