Which option is best for singing?

[Tasha.McKenna]

So I like to sing. I don't sing professionally, I'm not in a choir or anything, but I remember the lyrics to thousands of classical rock and folk tunes and my friends know that I am likely to burst into song at random times. Other than the fact that it's male-sounding, my voice quality is decent - a baritone with about a 2.5-octave range.

So my choices for vocal feminization are either voice coaching or surgery. Obviously I'm going to go with coaching first, and only consider surgery if I can't get the kind of results I want.

But I am curious to know what are the effects on vocal range. In the training case, I assume that I would normally be speaking at near the top of my pitch range, which doesn't leave a lot of headroom - if I wanted to sing a song that required more than one octave range, I'd have to drop it down an octave, which gets me back into unpleasant male-sounding territory.

For those who have tried surgery, what was the effect on pitch range? Did you find that your entire vocal range was transposed upward, or did you find you have a much more limited pitch range afterwards?

All that being said, if I had to give up singing entirely, I would do it. But I'd like to know what to expect.

[Dena]

I was never into singing because my voice was a total loss. I had maybe half an octave in my chest voice and half in the head voice with about 3/4 of an octave total range. For the feminine voice, you exclusively use the head voce so your range in that voice will determine what your singing range will be like.

Surgery for me wasn't an option because I couldn't force my head voice about about 180 HZ and the comfortable range was 130 HZ, well within the masculine range. Post surgical and a bunch of healing time, using both head and chest voice I can range about 2.5 octaves. My chest voice will drop to just over 100HZ, my head voce is comfortable around 220HZ and pushed my voce will approach 700HZ.

The doctor stated that the range would only shift so the results I obtained were entirely unexpected. There is a warning in that results may vary and the surgery can end up leaving you worst off than before so surgery should only be considered as a last resort. Also, it's common to use the head voice after surgery however what may have been difficult to do in the head voice becomes very comfortable.

Should you have any questions about speech therapy, I will be happy to answer them. I received training from one of the pioneers in the field and I learned a good deal more than what is required to produce a feminine voice.

[flytrap]

I had alot of fun developing my own voice! It only took about 6 months of practice using the Deep Stealth course. My male alter's singing range is G2 (second G below middle c; 97 hz) to G3 (G below middle C; 195 hz). I'm a contralto with a range of G3 (G below middle C; 200 hz) to E5 (second E above middle C; 644 hz). My absolute highest is a scream of 1150 hz. For reference, Stevie Nicks is also a contralto with vocal range of F2 (92hz) to E5 (659 hz). Her absolute highest in a laugh of G6 (1568 hz).

[Rayna]

Flytrap, did you extend your range like that just through the training? That would be amazing if I could do anything like half that.

[flytrap]

No surgery or speech therapist, RandyL, just the Deep Stealth course (my male alter, Primary, needs his voice too!). The ability of the human vocal chords is amazing.

The exercises seemed kind of stupid (repeating endless lists of syllables) but I practiced 30 minutes a day. Six months later people always knew I was a girl on the phone so I never finished the rest of the course and just started singing along with the radio. I sing melody for guys with higher pitched voices and harmony for girls above my range.

I was so thrilled to be able to sing in my own voice I made a harmony overdub of the two of us 5 1/2 years ago (~2 years of having my one voice).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

I know I stink but I love to sing and will keep the link active for a day so you can hear the difference in our ranges.

You can download a pdf copy of the Deep Stealth workbook here:
http://www.genderlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/voicebook020.pdf

[Dena]

You are correct that it's never going to make the top 10 but I was fascinated by it because I was able to clearly hear the beat frequency in it producing the four voices instead of the expected two. On the technical side, it gets an A+ in my book.

[flytrap]

Thank you, Dena! I loved doing that duet with Primary. 2011 was sort of the calm before the storm for us. It was Christmas and the two year war for control of the body was finally over. The duet was a musical expression of the harmony each of us bring to the Self. A confirmation that just like the song, neither of us could be the beautiful person we are without the other. It was a new level of understanding and self love our System had to reach before the flashbacks and time/memory loss could begin two months later.

[LexiDreamer]

No surgery or speech therapist, RandyL, just the Deep Stealth course (my male alter, Primary, needs his voice too!). The ability of the human vocal chords is amazing.

The exercises seemed kind of stupid (repeating endless lists of syllables) but I practiced 30 minutes a day. Six months later people always knew I was a girl on the phone so I never finished the rest of the course and just started singing along with the radio. I sing melody for guys with higher pitched voices and harmony for girls above my range.

I was so thrilled to be able to sing in my own voice I made a harmony overdub of the two of us 5 1/2 years ago (~2 years of having my one voice).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

I know I stink but I love to sing and will keep the link active for a day so you can hear the difference in our ranges.

You can download a pdf copy of the Deep Stealth workbook here:
http://www.genderlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/voicebook020.pdf

Thank you so much for this tip! I just started this program a few weeks ago and although I don't get to practice everyday, I've been practicing more and feel like my voice is getting more feminine.

Speaking with my ex-girlfriend on the phone (we still talk every few days), she keeps complimenting my voice and is so impressed that I don't slip into "male phone voice" mode like I used to.

Hopefully getting on a regular schedule practicing the vowel sounds like you did, will get my voice to a passable state. 

P.S. The videos for this program have been posted to Youtube by the author and can be found easily by searching for "FYFV" (Finding Your Feminine Voice)!