So I recently came out to my family and they’ve all accepted me. I can look like a women with makeup and fashion. However there’s another problem: my voice. I have a masculine voice. I obviously want to change this to a more feminine one. However it can be difficult to start, as I have very little experience in sounds and music which could at least help me. How do I change this? Where do I begin? Also I haven’t started medically transitioning yet and probably won’t for a while. I’m aware that hormones don’t change your voice, or if they do it’s a small amount. So any advice would be appreciated. All I know is that I can train it to be feminine.
Hi Danielle, and congratulations on coming out to your family! It's really inspiring to see others overcome the challenges ahead of me. Keep in mind that I'll reply only to the best of my ability, but I think that needing any form of musical of tonal experience to transform/raise your voice is not necessary. All you need is lots of practice and persistence. You could try to find a voice trainer who specialises with trans people, or maybe even take a look at some of the helpful videos on altering your voice from the resources list. You can also find additional tips and links in the thread pinned to the top of this subforum. Additionally, maybe even recording yourself as a control during exercises could prove useful, and see your voice improving over time. Really, the best advice I can give is to completely go through with it, and not giving up because you feel like you aren't doing any progress (which you definitely are, but a supportive family is always the best motivation to keep going on ), and remembering that you'll thank yourself one day for all the effort you put in. Hugs!
I’ll try to watch all the videos you sent me! They’ll definitely help I think. I guess YouTube tutorials might be the best way to do it? Maybe setting aside an hour a few times a week to practice will slowly improve it a lot. Recording myself is also a good idea, however might be slightly hard as I hate hearing my voice. The effort will be difficult, but I hope I don’t give up because of it. I don’t want to end up going halfway and sounding androgynous instead of male, but that’s a worry for another time
Hi Danielle, bear in mind that androgynous is probably as good as you'll get at this stage. I'd also see if there are any voice coaches around your local area. There are ways and means to train your voice to a higher pitch and they will know how. Also...do you have any pets? One thing I've found is when I talk to my cats* my voice automatically has a higher, more feminine ring to it. There's something about pets and babies that means you pitch up, rather than down. Try it - it might work. Hope that helps, Beth x * Yes, I know. I'm halfway to being a mad old cat lady and I'm only 54...
