Hi everyone,

One area where I feel really vulnerable and a bit timid right now is with my voice. I am in early transition so really want to practice this and work on it.  For those who are further along and happy with your progress, what have you done to teach yourself your new voice? Did you use online videos, go to a special therapist, or practice another way? Please share thoughts, post links, etc. I would be very grateful for the guidance. I don't know where to start.

Thanks!

Toni

It was a serious of youtube videos by CANDIFLA that pushed my voice into the passable territory.

I found her videos on youtube and bookmarked them for later. I've been wanting to find a good starting point and this seems like it. Thank you for showing us that.

Quote from: suzifrommd on August 02, 2013, 02:09:21 PM
It was a serious of youtube videos by CANDIFLA that pushed my voice into the passable territory.

Thanks! I especially like that she does before and after as it gives me a reference for starting point.  When you started, how much did you practice each day before you went full time?

Quote from: Antonia J on August 02, 2013, 08:42:02 PM
Thanks! I especially like that she does before and after as it gives me a reference for starting point.  When you started, how much did you practice each day before you went full time?

I didn't deliberately set aside time to practice. But I went out en femme several times a week and used my voice on those occasions. I also practiced when I was alone in the car. But really, once I found my voice, I don't think I needed a lot of practice.

I am just now watching these Candifla videos. They are funny and have some good content. As I understand it, they are based on the method by Melanie Ann Phillips, which is the method I trained 15 years ago during transition. It works reasonably well I think (with the potential obviously to work really great if one puts enough effort into it). Sadly for unknown reasons I lost it later and started to fail in respect to voice - when I was recently gendered male in a darkish room after telling a story, I decided I have to do something about it, which is one of the reasons I am here now and looking for some reminders about how to keep voice in shape.
One thing I noticed about the Melanie Ann (and CandiFla) method after using it for some time consistently was that it was straining my voicebox a bit which probably is part of why my voice degraded later on. IIRC Melanie Ann Phillips but especially CandiFla used this technique not fulltime, so maybe that is why?
My question to the forum would be if someone else has tried this method for fulltime use and what were your experiences with it - did you get trouble from using it for months without pause or did it work well for you in the long time? (If so, I suspect that it was just lack of concentration and/or getting overly confident on my part that let me "loose my voice")
Greetings

Try to find a female singer close to masculine range, like Adele, and sing along to her songs. Match the pitch and you got it!