FtM voices

[Nero]

Just curious, it's still very early for me, but do FtMs need to take voice lessons to master their new voices? And will you have to relearn how to sing? I'm shy about singing now, because when played back, the voice doesn't sound like mine. It sounds normal to me when it comes out, but when played back, it's a voice I don't recognize. And I don't just mean it sounds different being recorded, I mean it's so unrecognizable, people have to assure me it's mine.
Has anyone else experienced this, or is it just me? Maybe I have voice dysphoria.

Nero dying to sing

[Melissa]

With FTMs, T automatically lowers your voice.  That's one thing I'm jealous of.  You should be able to sing as male.  Just ask Dennis, he sings Bass in a choir.  Voice lessons for singing can help anybody though.

MTFs require voice training for speech, because speaking in a female voice is much more difficult than speaking in a male voice.

If you want to start trying to make you voice passable without T, try to get it to resonate from your chest by lowering your pitch and speak with more monotones in your voice.  If you do get it to resonate in your chest, it will sound very weird at first.  I switched from chest to head resonance recently and now when I try chest resonance, it sounds weird, but it is my old voice.

I'm honestly not sure what your capabilities are or even if you could do chest resonance.  Just some things to try.

Melissa

[Chynna]

MTFs require voice training for speech, because speaking in a female voice is much more difficult than speaking in a male voice.

I never had speech lessons I just taught myself how to raise my own voice in a female pitch.
and I belive it's almost flawless!!! (confidence don't you love it!!)

But if you want you be the judge.
484-686-2117
(This is just a VC# I set-up for this it is not an actual phone#)
yeah Im abusing my power at work but I need to test our PBX-Phone system anyway!

Chynna

[Dennis]

Yeah, no voice training needed. You get to go through puberty just like the other guys, including an embarassing period of cracking and squawking. That played havoc with my singing - I'd try and hit a note and wind up involuntarily yodelling - but it passed.

The only thing is, if you're a person who has a lot of variation in pitch when you talk, you'll want to train yourself out of that. And some consonants - 's' and 't' - might need re-training unless you don't mind sounding a little gay.

I just speak with the same part of my voice I used to, only now it's an octave or two lower than it was. I always did speak with chest voice though. If you do speak with your head voice (and you might need to look at some singing websites to figure out what you're doing), then you'll need to get used to speaking with chest voice or you'll sound squeaky after it changes.

And if you can't hold a note now, it'll get even harder after your voice changes. Your mileage may vary, but I've found it more difficult singing on pitch than before.

Dennis

[Melissa]

Your mileage may vary, but I've found it more difficult singing on pitch than before.

I've been singing in a female voice (works quite well) and I'm finding difficulting finding some pitches as well.  I think it lack of practice in using my voice in a new way.  For the most part, I can do well if I'm singing along with somebody singing the same part, but otherwise, it's difficult.

Melissa

[Nero]

Thanks everybody for responding.

If you can't hold a note now

I'm not all that gifted, but I try. Just hate that I don't recognize my own voice.

Nero

[Melissa]

Does it sound male or female to you?  You never stated that.  In recording, you always sound different than in your head.  I know with my male voice, I sounded fine in my head, but my voice sounded like I was retarded in recordings.  I like my female voice much better.

Melissa

[Nero]

My voice is not deep, which is disappointing because both my mother and sister have deeper voices than me. To me, I speak more like a guy, but I doubt that I'm doing this chest thing. To me, when I speak I hear a guy (albeit with a soft voice), but on the recording it sounds like a girl. And that hurts a lot. And I know it's what I really sound like and that soft female voice is what people are hearing. And that is really devastating. Maybe I can't recognize the voice because the reality is too painful. Both my parents have excellent singing voices (my mother's performed for years), how come I'm not gifted as well?

Nero

[MarcosGirl]

Nero,
     Sometimes the "singing gene" just doesn't get passed down, but if you feel you can carry a tune, then with some training, you could build on that.  As far as the female sounding voice, T will help you to start hearing the voice that I think you hear in your head.  You are with your voice like Marco is with his body.  He can't stand to look in a mirror if he has no clothes on.  The body he "sees" in his head definitely doesn't match what he sees in the mirror.  I know it's a very painful thing for him.  His top surgery in August will make all the difference in the world to him.
     Anyway...back to the singing thing...everyone is gifted somewhere, maybe yours isn't singing...maybe it is.  I know from reading a lot of your posts, you're always there for people with an encouraging word.  That tells me you have a great heart.  Maybe if the singing thing doesn't work out it could be your shower or car sport.  I know I can really belt out a tune in my car when I don't have to subject others to it, but put me in front of an audience and my voice seems to take a vacation...

Hang in there,
Pam

[Melissa]

I know Nero has a gift for writing.  I definitely love reading his posts.

Melissa

[Nero]

Awww, thanks ladies. You lift my spirits.

Nero