Voice training

[TSJasmine]

Okay so one thing I seem to struggle with is my voice. I don't sound completely male but I don't sound exactly female either. When I go online & talk to guys I meet on video chat rooms, most of the time they don't know (or don't say anything) but it still makes me somewhat insecure. I want to know, how did you get your female voice? Was it by going into falsetto? Was it by using a piano & learning to talk at a C pitch? or some other method I've never heard of? Also, how long did it take? I've noticed I've seen many TS who's voices did sound female but the voice didn't fit their appearance.

[sam79]

It seems that voice is as different as hair, and what works or did work for me may not work for anyone else .

I'm one of those gals who has to know how something works in order to do it. Going into falsetto and gradually bringing it down just didn't work. And I struggled with every other method until I understood the mechanics.

Importantly, from what I can tell, all methods try and achieve the same thing. So it's all a case of what works is best.

I learned to position my larynx ( long before speech ) through gurgling, which puts everything in the right place. It was all about feeling where things were, and learning to control it without actually gurgling. I literally just did that for months, making strange sounds etc.

With my larynx in the right spot and muscles doing what they need, it's impossible for a male sound to come out. That's when I started to learn everything else ( resonance, speech in terms of intonation and speech patterns, and lots more ). That took months and months with a speech therapist to learn all about resonance, breathing and patterns.

Since, I've not been once mis-gendered or let down by my voice, not once.

[Lady_Oracle]

It took me about 2 years of consistent practice until one day it just clicked from reading something on here about where to speak from in your throat and boom there was my voice. I started out by using it in online gaming to start to feel comfortable with it, like letting it settle in. I had a hard time using it around my family and close friends for awhile but I just kept pushing myself to. Hrt didn't change my voice but because I had been working on it for so long and I achieved it prethrt that when I finally started I could feel the muscle(voice box) a bit weaker thus it was a lot easier to maintain proper pitch. I had a super deep voice before and so even after finally getting it down, it was a whole new struggle to maintain the right pitch especially if you're have long convos with people during the day.

Resonance was the biggest challenge but that comes with time as the muscle gets trained you'll be able to shout and speak in louder volumes. So to sum this up I'll list the steps I took

1. Speak in falsetto and try to match the female vocal range in terms of key and record yourself.

2. Figure out a practice routine, there's tons of vocal warm up techniques all over youtube.
Warming up correctly and your practicing routine is crucial and you shouldn't ever push your vocals too hard. If you're just starting out only practice for a few minutes, at most 5min every other hour or so and as time goes on you can stretch out your practice sessions. IF YOU EVER FEEL DISCOMFORT/PAIN STOP! Vocal training is all about baby steps. Singing along with your favorite female singers is a fun way to practice too

3. Recovery is just as important as your practice sessions, gargling salt and water before and after, drinking tea with honey are things you should be doing to keep your voice box in good shape.

4. Once you achieve your voice make sure to practice it as much as possible and especially have a place where you can speak in your female voice comfortably to other people. Online is your best bet for that since you don't have to worry about your appearance and can put all your focus on your voice.

[androgynouspainter26]

Not to argue with anyone, but NEVER use your head voice (falsetto)-it sounds fake, and will burn a hole right in your vocal cords.  Trust me, I know-I used to sing.  Also, recording yourself is a huge must.  I've worked for years to find a voice that feels right, but it sounds unatural.  Record, adjust, and then record some more!  It's the best way by far.

[Illuminess]

I'm naturally more soft spoken, but my voice does still resonate from my chest a bit. I'm trying really hard to get away from that. I'm using the EVA iPhone app for Pitch, and it helps a little, but I'm still not there yet. I expect to sound better in at least six months from now. I'm going to record my voice as it is today, and then record it again after that much time has passed to see how much if a difference there is. My voice and my receding hairline are the worst things for my dysphoria. My nose, as well, but not as much. Transition is such a bitch.

[Hikari]

Not to argue with anyone, but NEVER use your head voice (falsetto)-it sounds fake, and will burn a hole right in your vocal cords.  Trust me, I know-I used to sing.  Also, recording yourself is a huge must.  I've worked for years to find a voice that feels right, but it sounds unatural.  Record, adjust, and then record some more!  It's the best way by far.

Oh god so much this, it is soooo hard to really know what you are sounding like without hearing yourself in a recording. Like, I thought for the longest time I was sounding really stupid and everyone was just trying to spare my feelings until I really listened to the recordings I made with an uncritical ear. Then I realized, while my voice isn't perfect, it doesn't out me, and people who don't know me and hear my voice don't somehow assume I am trans and then try to spare my feelings lol

IDK about Falsetto, all I know is when I tried it hurt, and hurting is no good so I didn't do that.

[Alesium]

Hello, fellow Noncomformants.

Here is a video from a lovely lady that has really helped me with my voice training.  I haven't had much of a chance to continue to practice recently *shakes fist at this nasty cough she's had for three weeks* but I can tell a difference in my voice after a few months.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCgXLx_-mIE&list=UU8xaIcidBMZ2dKQSTpyrtAg&index=17


Toodles from TN,
Ales

[Azahara]

would anyone be able to recommend a specific online guide or program/video series for mtf voice feminization? 

I live in quite a rural area of the US and making long, frequent road trips for voice therapy doesn't seem plausible for me. 

[neuro]

hope this helps.:

link:http://lucillesorella.com/

[RosieD]

Singing.

I had already trained myself to sing properly being the singer in an (incredibly bad) band so knew about taking it gently, stopping as soon as it hurt and doing a little and often rather than forcing my voice to do something it couldn't then croaking like a frog for a week. Start with some not too challenging, a tenor if you have a naturally low voice, an alto or mezzo-soprano if you have a higher voice and keep moving up the range as your voice becomes stronger. You will be training muscles that have never really done any work to start with so you really do need to take it very gently otherwise you will do permanent damage.

It took me 6 months to be able to sing mezzo and then another 6 to be able to do soprano and now I never, ever have to worry about my voice and can express myself with whatever pitches, tones and cadences I want. The main advantage of doing things this way is that you get to sing a lot.

Rosie

[Lady_Oracle]

I guess I should of clarified when I said go into falsetto. The falsetto (aka mickey mouse) voice gives you an idea of where you need to be to speak in a female pitch (at the top of your throat/headvoice) but its not ideal to actually use. It's like a point of reference to show you the difference between speaking from the chest. So its good for people starting out without any vocal training at all. It does put a lot of unnecessary strain on your voice so its not something that should be done often at all.

The female voice comes after training the voice box to the point where you have absolute control of your breath and you're able to keep that muscle small.

Candifla vids helped me a bunch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbaj4tIX1kw&list=PLC3A3F008C8B21605&index=4

[Alexis2107]

We have the same issue with our voice.  Don't think too much into it.  I did for a little while and tried, and failed.  If people think you're female in voice, you sound female.  I get it all the time when I call some company or whatever I get "Ma'am".. now when I tried to make it sound more feminine, it went exact opposite - I started to sound male!!! So - just relax, be yourself... you'll be fine

[Jessica-Louise]

I guess I should of clarified when I said go into falsetto. The falsetto (aka mickey mouse) voice gives you an idea of where you need to be to speak in a female pitch (at the top of your throat/headvoice) but its not ideal to actually use. It's like a point of reference to show you the difference between speaking from the chest. So its good for people starting out without any vocal training at all. It does put a lot of unnecessary strain on your voice so its not something that should be done often at all.

The female voice comes after training the voice box to the point where you have absolute control of your breath and you're able to keep that muscle small.

Candifla vids helped me a bunch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbaj4tIX1kw&list=PLC3A3F008C8B21605&index=4

My speech therapist warned me against using the falsetto method used by Candifla. Obviously that method worked very well for her but it can permanently damage the vocal chords. Apparently it's better to slowly raise the pitch rather than straining it too far too early. I'm not arguing that the falsetto method won't work but I felt obliged to share my speech therapist's advice/ warning.

[Lady_Oracle]

Yeah that's what I said in my post, it's not ideal at all and shouldn't be used as a main method of practice cause of the strain it does. I just linked her video cause that's who's video I used at first and I couldn't remember the others I got help from *shrugs

[Stephe]

I used a voice therapist, best money/time in my transition I have spent.

It's hard to describe but a guy's voice, you feel it low and more in your chest, my female voice I feel it much higher, like when you hum and feel it more in your head  than your chest. It is -not- falsetto. She had me repeat "Nim Nim *say another word*" as part of the practice. Also my adams apple is now normally higher than it used to be, to the point it's really not visible. This voice training moved it up as part of the practice (swallow then try to keep it in this "up" position as you speak). She also had me sing sliding scales to work my pitch naturally higher (push it every day) and to "warm up" along with other warmup I do in the shower in the morning to protect my voice. I bought a small voice recorder and a "pitch tuner" thing to give myself a starting place for practice and practice, practice, practice. We spent a lot of time on annunciation and inflection. smoothing out t's and phrases like "Ah-ha", a guy has a sharp start to the second H, a female it is very smooth and just sorta glides in.  I bet I said that phrase hundreds of times before it stuck. I would do the repetitions in the car or other places I was alone. There also is a little more breathyness and you have to learn to breath from your diaphram to pull that part off. Many guys are chest breathers. One thing that helped me too was to try to mimic women on TV, repeating what they just said.

Before voice training, my "fake" female voice was just a soft/higher pitch version of my male voice and it turned very male quickly if I had to speak loudly. And usually, it might have been sorta passable for a sentence or two but I couldn't keep it up very long.  Now I can speak for 20-30 minutes in front of a large group loudly and still sound female (I've listened to recordings) so the soft voice approach has limited uses.

Anyway, I now have a very female voice, haven't been misgendered from my voice now in years and it's just my natural voice. Sorta like my walk/mannerisms are now, after a while it just becomes how you are without thinking about it. It takes time and patience. Also as others said, start off slow and short periods. It took 6+ months to get where this felt comfortable to do for any extended period of time. The other thing, I was living full time by then so there was no use for a guy voice. I think switching back and forth would be very hard. I haven't used my guy voice in years now

[Alex Eli]

i dont do anything to my voice. people said its feminine to me all the time. but i guess i could try harder once im out. its just not one of my problems but i have others.

[Illuminess]

Singing.

I had already trained myself to sing properly being the singer in an (incredibly bad) band so knew about taking it gently, stopping as soon as it hurt and doing a little and often rather than forcing my voice to do something it couldn't then croaking like a frog for a week. Start with some not too challenging, a tenor if you have a naturally low voice, an alto or mezzo-soprano if you have a higher voice and keep moving up the range as your voice becomes stronger. You will be training muscles that have never really done any work to start with so you really do need to take it very gently otherwise you will do permanent damage.

It took me 6 months to be able to sing mezzo and then another 6 to be able to do soprano and now I never, ever have to worry about my voice and can express myself with whatever pitches, tones and cadences I want. The main advantage of doing things this way is that you get to sing a lot.

Rosie

I sing along with my favorite female vocalists all the time, especially Anneke van Giersbergen. I always wanted a female vocalist to work with on a music project, but I guess I'll have to fill that role, myself!

[Dread_Faery]

Tone is more important than pitch, because let's face it how many actual women do you know with high, girlish voices?

Gendered speech patterns are just another form of gender rolls, and as much as they are BS and I hate them there do play a part in how people gender you.

Finally, if you do get misgendered because of your voice, just politely correct them. I know countless cis women who get misgendered, especially over the phone.

[Nati]

I sing along with my favorite female vocalists all the time, especially Anneke van Giersbergen.

Och i love her too <3

[HelloKitty]

Best thing to do is go to Yeson Voice Center. My voice is okay-ish, not great so that's where I'm going next year to fix that problem.