For those of us Pre-T

[slammasaurus]

Hey guys, I was just wondering if anyone has found self voice training useful for better passing? I know I can pass visibly, but definitely not verbally. I usually get referred to as a guy when I'm looked at (which makes me quite happy) but as soon as I speak they immediately apologize and actually end up misgendering me. So does training your voice to deepen actually work or is testosterone just something that I need to deepen my voice?

Also do testosterone supplements help with the transition process (like slightly deepening the voice and maybe start some facial hair) or are they a waste of time? And would they show in a pee test as a steriod if they do help a little and I start taking them?

I'm just trying to look and sound more masculine without having to go through with actual transition right now because it would get me kicked out of the military, which is something I don't want to happen quite yet.

I also want this thread to be a reference for those that might not be able to transition right away for various reasons. So really any advice for those of us Pre-Op Pre-T, would be greatly appreciate, I'm sure.

[DriftingCrow]

I've heard some voice training works, especially the "boom" technique. I personally haven't tried any voice trainings. . . I guess I am lazy. 

We're actually not allowed to give advice on taking testosterone and/or herbal supplements on Susan's. Most guys here will just say it's a waste of time and money. There's some guys who've claimed they've had success though, at least enough to keep them happy before getting on T.

I am not on T and haven't had any surgeries. I usually just try to pass as a younger guy. I know I can pass as a young teen, so as long as I am not going to any place that's clearly 18+ I am usually fine even with a girly voice. I try to speak just at the lower range of what's natural for me, without trying to force anything. (I usually don't even bother trying to pass when I am at a place where you wouldn't find young teens, because just looking so young is a dead giveaway).

For starting to transition without actually taking testosterone, you can just workout (which I sure you do since you're in the military), because exercising will help keep you lean and build strength (having strong chest muscles can help give you better top surgery results), and make you feel more manly. Feeling manly is more important to me than actually looking manly.   

Exercising can help raise T levels, though I've read that it's only elevated by a small amount and it doesn't last too long (only during exercise and mintues afterward, then it starts going down to it's former level).

[Contravene]

I'm pre-T and started doing vocal exercises a year or two ago to see if I could deepen my voice and I was surprised by how quickly and how well they worked. I got most of them from searching online for vocal training used by singers so I can't remember all of them but I'll share the ones I can. It's probably worth noting that my voice has always been on the deeper side so your experience with the exercises may be different depending on what your own voice is like. Also, if you feel any pain in your neck or throat after doing them it's best to take a break so you don't strain your vocal cords. If you strain them too much, you'll have trouble holding any sort of tone because it'll cause your voice to keep cracking.

Longer and thicker vocal cords is what makes for a deeper voice. T will thicken your vocal cords but you can work on stretching them to make them longer without needing T.

Here's the first exercise:

- Sit up and tilt your head as far forward as you can until your chin is touching your collarbone (or as close to your collarbone as you can get) then start humming.

- As you're humming, gradually lower your voice until it's as deep as it will go then slowly raise your head as you continue you to hum. Try keeping the same deep tone while your raise you head up to look at the ceiling.

- You'll probably notice that when you're looking up it's hard to hold a lower tone but that's normal, just keep humming as deeply as you can while you gradually lower your head again.

The trick is to repeat the exercise until you're able to hold that lower tone with your head up. Once you can, continue doing the exercise with deeper and deeper humming. It will slowly stretch your vocal cords and after a while, your voice will naturally be deeper.


Now the second exercise:

- This one is pretty simple. Try speaking from your chest rather than from your throat. It's common for women to speak from their throats whereas men typically speak from their chest. That's why male voices resonate more deeply.

- Take a deep breath and as you exhale, expand your chest. Now repeat the same action but as you exhale, lower your voice as deeply as you can. You should be able to feel your voice resonating in your chest and in your vocal cords.

- Repeat the exercise a few more times and each time you do, try to "push" your hum down into your chest as you exhale.

- This will help you get used to speaking in a lower voice without having to move your throat each time to forcibly stretch your vocal cords.


And the third exercise:
For this one you'll need a piano or keyboard. To simplify things I'll just explain how the exercise workds using the virtual one found here http://www.virtualpiano.net/. (If it's against the TOS to post this link, I can remove it.)

- Start on the left side of the piano and find the A-22 key. Hit the key to play the note and try humming along to match your voice to the tone that's played (if you can't match the pitch exactly, that's okay just as long as the tone of your voice sounds close to the note being played).

- If A-22 was too low for you, try going up a key or two until you find a tone you're able to match with your voice.

- If your voice is naturally lower and A-22 was too high for you, keep going lower until you find the note that your voice naturally matches.

- Once you've found the note that best fits the sound of your voice, try playing a note lower. As you hum lower your voice to match the note but this time hold it for as long as you can. Repeat this step as you work your way down the scale into the lower registers.

This is just another way of stretching your vocal cords and it will give you an ear for exactly how low your voice is compared to how low you want it to be so that you can work on deepening it a little each time.




As for taking T supplements to lower your voice, I don't think they would help. Usually supplements that boost T only work if the body is already actively producing T itself and even then, most of them still don't work. Just keep at the exercises though and they'll definitely help. If I can remember anymore, I'll post those too. I'm sure there are plenty of voice deepening exercises you can find online too. One of the last (and cheesiest) exercises I used to do was just singing a lot to music where the singer had a deeper voice. That can be tricky though because it's easy to strain yourself that way so it's fun but I would try that last.

[slammasaurus]

@LearnedHand: I'm sorry, I completely forgot about the not talking about hormones and taking them without a doctor recommendation rule. I just had a bad day at work and a family gathering and was trying to think of some ways that might help me pass better.

As for working out, I don't actually do it as often as I know I should, so I guess that's why I don't ever feel very manly. I mean, I work out enough to pass a physical fitness test but that's about it. But you're right, feeling it is definitely more important than looking the part. I just have to find my motivation and make myself feel better about myself, I guess. 


@Contravene: I'll definitely try those exercises, I'm not sure if I can match tone with a keyboard, but I'll try the other ones. And I actually already try singing to deeper toned singers, though I think I sound like a mono toned robot haha. 

Thanks guys 

[DriftingCrow]

@Contravene: How long do you spend a day/week doing those exercises?

[Contravene]

Slammasaurus,

Don't worry, I'm not much of a singer myself 



LearnedHand,

I would spend about 10 minutes every other day doing a vocal cord stretching exercise in the morning when my voice was just naturally lower. It actually helped keep my voice in that lower tone throughout most of the day. Then I would do the same type of exercise for about 10 minutes later in the late afternoon or evening to make sure my vocal cords stayed stretched.

It was tiring on my voice at first but eventually I could go for longer than ten minutes so I would just do the cord stretching exercises until my voice got tired (even though I wouldn't recommend that if you're afraid of straining your vocal cords.)

The chest breathing exercise is a little different because it's really just a matter of controlling how you breathe when you speak so it isn't as intense. Usually I would do that one in the evenings until I got bored with it 

I used to have a problem with my voice cracking a lot but after a few months of the exercises, that problem was cured and my voice is much smoother now. So the exercises will definitely help on a couple different levels. I actually haven't done any of them in a while but the changes from when I was doing them regularly stayed.

[BeefxCake]

actually you can train your voice to be deeper.

I've done this i do it in the car when im driving XD

they call it booming your voice, so instead of just having a lower pitch it resonates as well and that way it's more convincing.

this worked for me. also singing the male parts int eh car, i can now hit notes that i couldn't before, my professors at the music school think it's kind of impressive i can actually hit the notes. but doing this often really does deepen your voice.

hoenstly now that i've done it my speaking voice, not just my singing voice, is a lower resonance. which is cool. but do it too much i think it makes your voice crack like a little pre pubescent boy. that happens to me all the frickin time.

[Taka]

maybe i'll try those voice exercises. would be cool if i could sing on lower notes than d-15 on that virtual piano. i can get down to c-13, even b-12 on good days (when singing in a choir), but my voice doesn't carry too well when i get that deep down.

what's a good speaking tone for a guy?

[DriftingCrow]

Question on the voice exercises: Are the exercises something you'd need to do for the rest of your life (or until you get on T) to keep the voice deeper, or can you do them until your voice gets to where you'd like it to be and it'll just sort of stay there?

[Taka]

if you widen the voice range, it will usually go back a little if you don't use the extra range. but not so much from the deeper ranges, as the voice deepens when we grow older as well. i've lost a whole octave in the higher range of my voice after high school, probably because i didn't sing soprano for many years after that. now i'm somewhere between alto and tenor..

it will probably be good to continue exercises until t has gotten your voice down naturally. especially the chest voice exercises, that extra resonance makes the difference between teenager and adult. and i find it much sexier than throaty voice in guys. i should probably make an exception for south state guys here. (not on the sexiness, but on using a nice, relaxed chest voice)