voice lessons worth it???

[noitsbecky]

i have developed a female voice but im not confident in it and have had a mental block using it work and at home.  i am ok with strangers.  my voice is the only thing people question as i have been stealth for 10 yeas since i was23.  its 4 lessons a month by a pro voice coach/opera singer.  do you think it would help my mental black? anyone have stories on this? is it worth the money? 200 a month 4 45 min lessons

thank you

[Maid Marion]

I have a very feminine voice because a female speech therapist taught me how to modulate my voice.

[Arianna Valentine]

Honestly there are women with deep voices I don't see why people judge other people on their voices so much I myself don't intend to do voice coaching I talk the way I talk if people don't like it don't talk to me it says simple as that...
my voice is my voice I shouldn't have to alter it just to please other people

Sent from my LG-LS777 using Tapatalk

[jill610]

It's not about just pitch. A low pitch with no resonance will be gendered female most of the time. The same pitch with resonance will be gendered male, even with a high pitch.

Consider resonance, breathiness, intonation and blended articulation combined with word choice. If you get gendered female consistently on the phone then maybe try one lesson and see what the therapist says?

[Colleen_definitely]

Yes there's definitely more than just pitch.  Resonance is important and so is intonation or modulation.  The real trick is to learn how to put it all together.

One good example I've seen is this one trans lady on yout00b who does voice training videos.  I can't think of her name off hand.  The problem is that while she has really good pitch, she totally misses the other parts.  She ends up sounding like a high pitched guy: super monotone and almost no inflection.  A good voice coach would help you work on that. (mine did anyway)

[Lucca]

My voice lessons have been great, having an actual speech therapist give you live feedback is very helpful. It's certainly not required, but I'd recommend it if it's feasible for you.

[KatieP]

I have spent a TON of money on transition. In terms of "passing," by far, the best money I spent was with the speech pathologist. Besides the confidence, as just one example, I was at WalMart yesterday picking up passport photos I had sent to them. I was in total boy-mode. No makeup, no wig, just ball cap, sweatshirt, and jeans. In my normal "girl" voice, I asked for the photos. the clerk turned to another clerk and said, "She wants to pick up passport photos." The other clerk says, "I can help her..." ok. The ears are pierced. But the little steel balls in my ears and my voice were the ONLY clues I gave the clerks, and both somehow thought "woman." I think the voice was everything.

I should mention too, that my speech pathologist actually turned out to be an expert in transgender voice. And, not "voice lessons." Straight up medical professional. She did her Master degree at Johns Hopkins, doing work with transgender MtF people. She LOVES to work with MtF folks. In my opinion, THAT background and experience made a lot of difference.

Anyway, my speech pathologist was literally life changing. Highly recommended.

Kate

[KatieP]

my voice is my voice I shouldn't have to alter it just to please other people

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Yes, you are totally correct. And, I alter my voice not to "please other people" so much as to provide them with more cues to correctly gender me. Whether or not it "should" be this way, it is, and likely will be for a while...

Kate

[Linde]

Yes there's definitely more than just pitch.  Resonance is important and so is intonation or modulation.  The real trick is to learn how to put it all together.

One good example I've seen is this one trans lady on yout00b who does voice training videos.  I can't think of her name off hand.  The problem is that while she has really good pitch, she totally misses the other parts.  She ends up sounding like a high pitched guy: super monotone and almost no inflection.  A good voice coach would help you work on that. (mine did anyway)

You are so right!  My natural voice has a rather high pitch.  I can easily keep a pitch average between 220 and 240 Hz.  But still fail on the phone all the time!  I just have a high pitch male voice!
If I am around with women, I have no problem to speak the entire day like a female, because the trigger to speak like a male is not there, and I fall automatically into the same speech pattern as he ladies have.  Voice pitch wise I can keep up with them without any problems, in fact I have some women in my circle who have a lower voice than I.

It is the male speech memory that I have to forget, if I want to be a female on the phone!

[Colleen_definitely]

It's definitely difficult after a lifetime of practice but it's far from an insurmountable problem.  I went from being afraid of ever approaching a feminine voice to having to explain to people from my insurance company that I wasn't transitioning from female to male.

It takes a lot of work but it's attainable and my coach really helped a lot.

[DawnOday]

I had an amazing coach but as good as she was. We are the ones who have to put in the work. It is work. Lots of it. Emily was such a joy to be around I looked forward to our sessions. I didn't want to let her down. But I learned so much more from her than voice lessons.  The best help I had was downloading a copy of :Voice Pitch Analyzer."  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.lilithwittmann.voicepitchanalyzer&hl=en 

By reading passages from the book "Dorian Grey" The program tracks your progress through the reading and creates charts and reports that analyze the recording. This was the most useful tool because you did not have to monitor while you are talking. Of course you can read anything and it will also score it. But DG is preloaded.

Another technique is identifying a female celebrity you would like to emulate and then check for any interviews they have made. Study the interviews for pace, inflections, gestures, style, clothing, shoes. Then take it outside, start with a drive-up window. A particularly fun / evil practice is to use your female voice on the intercom at a fast food restaurant. This is especially fun at Chick fil a. then you go to the window and thank the person for serving a transgender person.

[NatalieRene]

Honestly there are women with deep voices I don't see why people judge other people on their voices so much I myself don't intend to do voice coaching I talk the way I talk if people don't like it don't talk to me it says simple as that...
my voice is my voice I shouldn't have to alter it just to please other people

Sent from my LG-LS777 using Tapatalk

It's not purely about pleasing others. For me my voice was a source of dysphoria. My voice in my head has never matched the voice that comes from me.

If you are happy with your voice that is what matters but I sense pain behind your message. If it does bother you just remember your voice box is a wind instrument and it is feasible. It's still your voice you just go through therapy very much like a kid would when they have speech problems. Either way we support you in finding your happiness.

[Linde]

I had an amazing coach but as good as she was. We are the ones who have to put in the work. It is work. Lots of it. Emily was such a joy to be around I looked forward to our sessions. I didn't want to let her down. But I learned so much more from her than voice lessons.  The best help I had was downloading a copy of :Voice Pitch Analyzer."  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.lilithwittmann.voicepitchanalyzer&hl=en 

I agree with you that this analyser is a good way to test your pitch.  I know from it what pitch my natural voice is.  But as I said, I am just talking like a man with a rather high pitch voice.  The problem is to get he female speech pattern.  I can do that without any problem when I am with women, but I still fall into the male speech habit when I answer the phone!  It is a mental training what I have to do to forget that male speech!

Another technique is identifying a female celebrity you would like to emulate and then check for any interviews they have made. Study the interviews for pace, inflections, gestures, style, clothing, shoes.

I don't agree with this, because I do not want to sound like a celebrity, and do not want to emulate their speech.  I want to sound like Dietlind, and don't care how a celebrity sounds!  I want to develop my own voice, and not be a copy of somebody else!

[Donica]

I have a question! What do you do to create a feminine resonance? Where is your tongue and Adem's apple? I ask because, although my therapist tells me I have good resonance, intonation and modulation, I think my voice sound ok out load but does not sound feminine when I playback my recording? Perhaps I'm just being critical.

The voice, like any wind instrument, all have different size chambers that produce a different resonance. I believe cis females have a smaller voice chamber (as well as shorter vocal cords) than cis males do, that contributes to the higher sounding feminine voice resonance. It is not enough to surgically shorten the vocal cords. I believe the size of the voice chamber needs to be reduced as well. But just how to do that without surgery is another question. I believe this is the reson why some are more successfull at it than orthers.

As far as voice apps are concerned, A good one will cost a little money but will allow you to record and playback your voice as well as monitor your pitch range in both notation and hertz scales. My therapist uses one that not only does all this but also shows your pitch range (highs, lows and average) in both Notation and in hertz scales.

I use two different apps. The first is free and is called Voice Pitch Monitor, which allows you to record and playback your voice but only shows pitch range in notation (C3, C4, C5 etc...).

The second is also free and is called Voice Pitch Analyst (the same as Dawns app above) but does not playback your recorded voice, at least not my version. It does however display your pitch range in a hertz scale and provides an all in one female, androgynous and male chart range. It also stores a text version in Min avg Hertz, Max avg Hertz and your over all Average Hertz.

They are both ok but I get tired of having to switch apps when I want to playback my voice. I'll have to ask my therapist again what app she uses but I think I will spent the money.

[jill610]

The app " Voice analyst" is what all of the therapists I have seen use.

It records, playback and provides all the statistics they typically look for. You need to tell it what your target min/max range is as it's not specifically for transgender use.

My target range was 155/175 but I think needs to be reset.

[NatalieRene]

On iOS Voice Pitch Analyst will play back the recording. I have been using it for a while and it is very useful.

[Linde]

On iOS Voice Pitch Analyst will play back the recording. I have been using it for a while and it is very useful.

I checked around on the google app store, and could not find a similar one for free.

But, as I said, pitch is not that problem, I have a female size voice box (no Adams Apple), all that is peachy with me.  It is the darn way guys tend to speak that I have to get out of my head!

I can speak girls talk all day long fo many days in a row, if I am around females, and talk with them.  As soon as I am at home alone, and the pone rings, I get the "yes sir" answer!  It is a mental thing, I know, but I am German and that makes me thick headed!

[Donica]

The app " Voice analyst" is what all of the therapists I have seen use.

It records, playback and provides all the statistics they typically look for. You need to tell it what your target min/max range is as it's not specifically for transgender use.

My target range was 155/175 but I think needs to be reset.

Thank you Jill! Yes I believe that is the same app my therapist uses. I just download it. It cost $9.99.

[Donica]

I checked around on the google app store, and could not find a similar one for free.

But, as I said, pitch is not that problem, I have a female size voice box (no Adams Apple), all that is peachy with me.  It is the darn way guys tend to speak that I have to get out of my head!

I can speak girls talk all day long fo many days in a row, if I am around females, and talk with them.  As soon as I am at home alone, and the pone rings, I get the "yes sir" answer!  It is a mental thing, I know, but I am German and that makes me thick headed!

Oh yes Dietlind. The dreaded masculine speech patterns. They are indeed difficult habits to break. This is where your therapist also comes in. The words you choose. The more elegant, complete and flowing sentence patterns. etc...

[NatalieRene]

Here is a example of my voice after training. Sorry it is a repost but I don't have time at the moment to make another while I'm at work. I used Voice Analyst to make the recording and get the stats. The red line in the view is a line where I set my goal to not go below.