Voice Pitch Question

[Deborah]

I just read this on a music webpage.

"The average man's speaking voice, for example, typically has a fundamental frequency between 85 Hz and 155 Hz. A woman's speech range is about 165 Hz to 255 Hz, and a child's voice typically ranges from 250 Hz to 300 Hz and higher. "

So the question is what frequency do we need to reach for a decent speaking voice.  The reason I ask is that over time my normal male voice has crept up from around 130 to around 160 to 175 for my general conversational voice.   I can pretty easily raise that to around 200 to 220 without any strain.  Higher than that though and it starts sounding fake.

So, is 200 high enough or do I need to work on developing a higher pitch?

I know about resonance and inflection and I need a lot of work there.  Even though my normal voice is pretty high it never gets read as anything but male.


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[Dena]

The lower the voice, the more you have to pay attention to the details however this is a good guideline.
http://www.nyspeechandvoicelab.net/transgender/voice-feminization/

[EmilyMK03]

I really think 200 Hz is fine.  If you can work on your resonance and inflection, then your voice could very well be read as female.  I do believe that resonance is the single most important aspect though.  I'd even argue that it's by far the most important.

[Deborah]

Just to be sure I understand.  Resonance is the place your voice is coming from.  So if I can feel it vibrating in my head, kind of behind and below my nose, that's what I need to aim for?  I can do that but I'm not used to speaking from there.

Right now my normal voice is not in my chest any longer but just above my larynx in my throat.  It's going to require some practice to push it up further and feel natural speaking.

Am I understanding that all correctly?


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[Mariah]

I believe resonance is based on space used to and where. So large spaces resonated louder. Hugs
Mariah

[Dena]

You have limited control over resonance and most of that is accomplished by tensing the muscles above the larynx. If you start in the male range and raise your pitch, you will feel and hear a place where the voice slips into the next range. Staying above that point will give you the feminine resonance and pitch. Speaking at that pitch takes getting used to and the more you use it, the more natural it will become. It's very difficult for me to drop out of that range because I have used it for so long I have "forgot" how to speak the old way.

[EmilyMK03]

Just to be sure I understand.  Resonance is the place your voice is coming from.  So if I can feel it vibrating in my head, kind of behind and below my nose, that's what I need to aim for?  I can do that but I'm not used to speaking from there.

Right now my normal voice is not in my chest any longer but just above my larynx in my throat.  It's going to require some practice to push it up further and feel natural speaking.

Am I understanding that all correctly?

Yes, you have the right idea.  If you can feel your voice coming from your head, you're well on your way.  Try to focus on that and bring it up higher.  If that vibration is, as you say, below your nose, that's still not quite where you need to be.  You want that vibration to be even higher, at or even above your nose.  If you can achieve that, and speak from there consistently, your voice will absolutely be read as female, especially at 200 Hz.

[Ella_bella]

I am doing Kathe Perez's course now. The median pitch she suggests is 220Hz. However there is a lot more to a feminine voice than pitch alone. Resonance and articulation also make a huge difference!

[EmilyMK03]

I am doing Kathe Perez's course now. The median pitch she suggests is 220Hz. However there is a lot more to a feminine voice than pitch alone. Resonance and articulation also make a huge difference!

I also did Kathe Perez's 30-day course.  I found it helpful and consider it time and money well spent, as it laid the foundation for further voice work.  But in no way did I have a feminine voice after completing the course.  After the course, I took weekly private lessons for two months with a professional voice trainer (who has years of experience with transgender students).  Only then was I confident that I had a reasonably passable feminine voice.

[Ella_bella]

I also did Kathe Perez's 30-day course.  I found it helpful and consider it time and money well spent, as it laid the foundation for further voice work.  But in no way did I have a feminine voice after completing the course.  After the course, I took weekly private lessons for two months with a professional voice trainer (who has years of experience with transgender students).  Only then was I confident that I had a reasonably passable feminine voice.

Emily thats great to know! Thankyou for your input!

[anjaq]

A pitch of 175 Hz and upward is ok. 200 Hz is great, 220 Hz is considered an "average female pitch", which is of course ideal, but by far not needed. Many TG speech therapists rather aim towards a lower female voice at about 180 Hz, because it is far easier on the voice. The higher the voice is forced, the more strain this causes. A good speech therapist will thus rather aim at a pitch at the lower half of the female voice spectrum and focus intensely on the resonance, intonation and voice melody. If your voice is already at 180-200 Hz, I would not focus much more on pitch but rather on other parameters if your voice is still gendered male.

I had voice surgery and it got me from a speaking vice of 120-150 Hz in the range of 170-200 Hz and I have not yet been misgendered. One person phoning me about voice surgery even claimed my voice sounds like that of a younger woman while in reality I am over 40. So its not needed to push pitch beyond 200 Hz.

[Deborah]

I guess I just need to start practicing then.  Occasionally when I have recorded myself in the past I thought it sounded very good.  But that is still a pretty rare thing.


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