Singing and voice changes

[Jessica]

Hi gals 🙋 one thing that is a common problem for us is our voice.  I know mine is a dead give away.  Most of us would love to have a feminine voice, I know I do.
The issue I'm most afraid of is if I am successful in my goal, will I still have the ability to sing on key.  I'm nearly pitch perfect and have been told I have a great singing voice....I'm afraid of losing that.  Before puberty hit me hard, I was always grouped in the soprano section in choir and hope maybe it would return to that.  Doubtful I am of that, and there are no guarantees.

But what are the odds I can be successful on both fronts, voice and singing?
@Kendra ....what is your experience?

Hugs and warbles 🐦 Jessica

[Kendra]

Much too early to tell with me - I won't know until later this year.  Right now what I'm finding from March 1 VFS at Yeson is my voice at previous pitch quickly gets hoarse, I need to train my brain for a higher pitch which is now easier to use than before and isn't hoarse. 

I didn't have a singing voice before. 

[Christy Lee]

I am lucky to have a Tenor voice, with a 2 octave range (most of the time LOL) ... i do prefer it in the upper registry but i get horse throat too easily and tonelly it doesnt always sound as good i am only just starting to learn more about voice feminization myself

Singing is my passion, and my ideal profession, but disphoria has always gotten in the way of that

[Jessica]

Thank you Kendra and Christy!  If there was one thing I feel is the riskiest for me as I transition, it's losing the ability to do something that is beyond measure of losing.  Singing sends joy throughout my body and soul and I would be devastated if I lost that.

[Charlie Nicki]

Girl you can sing?? I didn't know that! I can sing as well but I'm so out of practice that it's mostly gone.

[Jessica]

Girl you can sing?? I didn't know that! I can sing as well but I'm so out of practice that it's mostly gone.

You should hear me give a rousing rendition of "Pfft! She was gone".

[steph2.0]

Thank you Kendra and Christy!  If there was one thing I feel is the riskiest for me as I transition, it's losing the ability to do something that is beyond measure of losing.  Singing sends joy throughout my body and soul and I would be devastated if I lost that.

Same here, Jessica! I used to sing tenor, but have been working on the upper range, along with timbre. I've always been pretty good with "voices" so I'm working on leveraging that to sing in range with women vocalists like Carly Simon, and believe it or not, Stevie Nicks, who when you actually pay attention, sings in a fairly low range.

I hope to avoid any kind of surgery. I finally got a chance to listen to some of the recordings as I announced aircraft at Sun-N-Fun, and I still hear whatsisname in there, though others tell me it's not too bad. I also have some videos that Cassie took when I sang high harmony with friends on our road trip. I had such a good time with that. Need to edit those down.

In any case, it does seem as I work on moving to a higher register, accuracy remains, and vibrato (or is it tremolo?) even seems to be enhanced. I think if you work at it slowly and don't overstrain, you'll be fine.


- Stephanie

[steph2.0]

You should hear me give a rousing rendition of "Pfft! She was gone".

Well, where are you tonight?


- Stephanie

[Jessica]

Well, where are you tonight?


- Stephanie

Happily not alone!

Smiles, Jess

[Roll]

I'm hoping my normal singing voice gets better with training personally. At the moment my best singing voice is going fairly deep and doing an impersonation of Sebastian from the Little Mermaid. I can do Under the Sea perfectly. (I'm honestly not joking.) Unfortunately that would be really weird coming out of a woman's mouth.

[Christy Lee]

Same here, Jessica! I used to sing tenor, but have been working on the upper range, along with timbre. I've always been pretty good with "voices" so I'm working on leveraging that to sing in range with women vocalists like Carly Simon, and believe it or not, Stevie Nicks, who when you actually pay attention, sings in a fairly low range.

I hope to avoid any kind of surgery. I finally got a chance to listen to some of the recordings as I announced aircraft at Sun-N-Fun, and I still hear whatsisname in there, though others tell me it's not too bad. I also have some videos that Cassie took when I sang high harmony with friends on our road trip. I had such a good time with that. Need to edit those down.

In any case, it does seem as I work on moving to a higher register, accuracy remains, and vibrato (or is it tremolo?) even seems to be enhanced. I think if you work at it slowly and don't overstrain, you'll be fine.


- Stephanie

YES, my teacher is a woman, and not knowing i am trans, often has to get me to pitch at a lower registry when i sing with her because she sees me as a man ya know? its a little annoying actually lol

I seem to atm have a better accuracy tone vibrato in the lower registry for now which kind of makes me feel disphoric, she will say what a lovely voice you have but im like no its too manly LOL

[Eryn T]

ah, I wish I could hear some of your beautiful singing voices! Especially Ellie! Sebastian from a sweet face like that? My goodness! xD

I'd like to think I sing alright, but truth be told, before practicing my voice for Eryn, I never gave myself the opportunity to attempt other voices. In fact, I was pretty envious when my male relatives would do play 'effeminate' voices, but I never could do it well.  The best I could do was a pseudo Arnold Schwarzenegger impression...

But, since working on my voice and doing singing exercises occasionally, I fail to see how you could possibly lose your ability, Jessica. Singing feminine has helped my male singing, too; and I could only assume that this is because it has nothing to do with skill or talent, but technique.   

[OU812]

If you're of the "I don't care what I sound like, I don't want any surgery and I just want to train my voice" mentality, then you basically want to look into what's called counter-tenor training. There's a very well-established tradition in this area and it is possible to sound rather good.

The catch? Don't try singing Britney Spears with it. It's a very formal, classical sound best suited for choirs or Nessun Dorma. It also will not sound anything like your normal speaking texture or register, and this is something practice really will not help with.

If you actually want to improve your singing voice with VFS, well, good news! It does make the counter-tenor technique considerably easier: you will likely have less difficulty navigating your passagio, and have a more naturally female sound when singing in any register. My experience now is that I don't really feel like I'm making undue effort to sing

If you don't study/practice, and don't have surgery, well don't expect any miracles. If you have a voice that just never passes, probably VFS is your best option, since even with counter-tenor technique you'll still have a very "covered" or muffled sound, like a heavyset woman with a cold.

(Source: Focused on this for over a decade, had VFS. I pretty much know what I'm talking about.)