Taylor Swift says her school bullies inspired her to become a musician.

The 20-year-old singer was tormented by several classmates when her family moved from their farmhouse in Pennsylvania to a new house in the city.

The pupils would tease her and shun her offers of friendship, but ultimately Taylor believes those adolescent experiences made her more determined to pursue her music dream.

She said: "There are two ways you can with it if you are bullied. You can let it destroy you, or you can use it as fuel to drive you: to dream bigger, work harder. I wasn't invited to parties and I look back now and I'm so thankful that I was at home playing guitar until my fingers bled."

Taylor - who has just released her new album 'Speak Now' - says some of her bullies now come to her concerts and signing sessions but she no longer feels the need to confront them about what they did to her.

She added to You magazine: "I don't think they even remember what happened. And when I see them sitting in line at my meet-and-greets wearing my T-shirts, I'm not going to walk up to them and say, 'How could you do that?' Because look at how life has gone. They were there for a reason, and I'm happy about it."