Hi, so I know I am trans and I have been publicly out for round about 4 years now. I am approaching 18 this year and I think it's high time I start thinking about my future and what treatment I want.
I have decided top surgery is a definite yes, however I am anxious about what testosterone is going to do to my singing voice. I do have a YouTube channel which I will post a link to so whoever sees this can get an idea of why I am worried.
The thing I have noticed is most people on YouTube that do voice comparison videos are not great singers, (Barr jake Edwards which is literally the only guy that is making me reconsider not taking testosterone) but all the rest seem to have lost their range. I know I am going to lose somewhat all my high range when I go on testosterone, which I am going to just have to accept. At the end of the day, music is my life and having to say goodbye to that would be heartbreaking for me. However, on the flip side, I don't want to sacrifice my beard just so I can sing.
Ugh the internal struggle I am having is horrible.
Help please ??
Thank you.

Welcome to Susan's Place. When you take T, you have to expect the worst and hope for the best. Reality will fall somewhere in-between the two and the only way to know is to try it. There are many male singer with perfectly fine male voices but I was one of the freaks. My natural source of T completely destroyed my voice making it bass with about a half octave range in the chest or head voice. The only way for me to obtain a feminine voice was through surgery.  Fortunately for me, facial hair was minimal and body hair was non existent. It is a difficult decision but I hope you find what's right for you.

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Quote from: Seaninator99 on January 15, 2017, 06:41:06 PM
Hi, so I know I am trans and I have been publicly out for round about 4 years now. I am approaching 18 this year and I think it's high time I start thinking about my future and what treatment I want.
I have decided top surgery is a definite yes, however I am anxious about what testosterone is going to do to my singing voice. I do have a YouTube channel which I will post a link to so whoever sees this can get an idea of why I am worried.
The thing I have noticed is most people on YouTube that do voice comparison videos are not great singers, (Barr jake Edwards which is literally the only guy that is making me reconsider not taking testosterone) but all the rest seem to have lost their range. I know I am going to lose somewhat all my high range when I go on testosterone, which I am going to just have to accept. At the end of the day, music is my life and having to say goodbye to that would be heartbreaking for me. However, on the flip side, I don't want to sacrifice my beard just so I can sing.
Ugh the internal struggle I am having is horrible.
Help please ??
Thank you.

I'll tell you chances are you'll have to retrain your singing voice but after a while of training it'll come back probably in a more male tone of course but it'll get around to coming back i'm not a singer but iv'e heard a lot of this question going around online and iv'e heard many people say they've had to retain their singing voices.

I couldn't sing well before but now I can't sing for crap as my voice is all over the place. When I was searching online for information about the expectations of range, I found a few pages by FTM musicians dealing with the effect of T on the singing voice. The upshot was that you can't predict what effect it will have and you'll have to get used to and retrain your voice in a new range, but that it hadn't hurt their careers.

I read a paper recently that said low dose testosterone will give your voice time to grow and adjust. If you barge into high dose right away as most of us want to you could lose your voice. You only have to do low dose for a year or so, and it does need to be a dose high enough to get changes, but just high enough to get changes (titrated up). This could be emotionally hard to deal with but it's the best shot you have of saving your voice. Apparently young bio males start off slow with T which allows the voice to develop first, then the levels shoot up high. You're only 18 so nothing has ossified so your voice should be fine if you follow this advice. HTH.

Hi there! I'm also FTM and a singer. I've been on T for almost a year and a half. Before T, I was a mezzo soprano with several years of professional voice lessons and ensemble experience under my belt. Once I started T, my voice dropped like a rock into a pond. I quickly became a baritone.

Even with private lessons and practice, I'm still struggling. My voice is still settling, and now I got a whole new range and new techniques to get used to. My last few singing videos (my channel is "Bailey C.") sounded nasally and I still am working on my ear.

My advice- find a vocal coach pre-T, or someone who can help you. I also recommend looking at vocal tips for men on YouTube once your voice begins to change. Also- practice, practice, practice as well! You'll be at a time where you can barely sing a single note, but keep practicing! Start small once your voice begins to change, and as you grow more comfortable, lengthen your practice sessions! Don't push too hard, and remember your experience is different from the next guy's!
Hope this helped!

Quote from: baileycftm on January 24, 2017, 09:49:34 PM
Hi there! I'm also FTM and a singer. I've been on T for almost a year and a half. Before T, I was a mezzo soprano with several years of professional voice lessons and ensemble experience under my belt. Once I started T, my voice dropped like a rock into a pond. I quickly became a baritone.

Even with private lessons and practice, I'm still struggling. My voice is still settling, and now I got a whole new range and new techniques to get used to. My last few singing videos (my channel is "Bailey C.") sounded nasally and I still am working on my ear.

My advice- find a vocal coach pre-T, or someone who can help you. I also recommend looking at vocal tips for men on YouTube once your voice begins to change. Also- practice, practice, practice as well! You'll be at a time where you can barely sing a single note, but keep practicing! Start small once your voice begins to change, and as you grow more comfortable, lengthen your practice sessions! Don't push too hard, and remember your experience is different from the next guy's!
Hope this helped!

Sorry to interrupt but I wanted to welcome you to the site as well.

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