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MtF Voice Training - Any Tips?

Discussion in 'Gender Identity and Expression' started by Invidia, Apr 10, 2016.

  1. Invidia

    Invidia Guest

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    I was wondering if anyone has any tips on how to feminize your voice. I feel like I want to try my best at that atm, since it's about the only thing I can do transition-wise right now. I read books aloud, sometimes just talk to myself, or sing a little to voice train. I'll probably be able to get a voice coach later on, but for now I'm on my own.

    Any tips?
     
  2. Irisviel

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    From what I've learned so far - it's not so much about the pitch, it's in the way you speak. My tips would be to familiarise yourself with the terms such as head voice, chest voice, mixed voice.

    Male bodied people usually speak more in the chest voice ( in short - you get most of the vibration below your Adam's apple). Biological women speak more in the higher register (not necessarily higher pitch). Like, I speak exactly in the pitch of Amanda Palmer... I actually did measure that - that's very much a guy's range, too - and yet it is clear which one of us is afab.

    I'm not sure how to explain, but the most important thing is to remember to not try speaking in falsetto, rather... sort of work on softer tones. When you speak in a guy's voice, you most likely feel vibrations mostly downwards from the Adams apple. Female voice would vibrate a bit higher. A lot of that has to do with men using much more diaphragm when they speak than women do.

    Of course, because you need to move out of that deeply resonating chest voice, you might go up in pitch... but don't make it your biggest goal. Low voices are sexy anyway :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes: Work on softness and placement. And to get the general idea of how that placement works... I do encourage you to watch singing lessons on YouTube, from more than one coach. Maybe search for lessons in singing like a woman, I'm sure there are videos like that, too. Most voice tips from trans women that I've seen were not useful in terms of concrete advice beyond saying that it takes time and that if you try to desperately go for higher pitch you might end up sounding funny.

    So I'd focus on the aspect of placement of your vocal projection and not stress the pitch aspect too much. Singing theory will give you a lot of idea how human voice works and how to control it.
     
    #2 Irisviel, Apr 10, 2016
    Last edited: Apr 10, 2016
  3. Stacy in MA

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    One bit of advice I came across that wasn't obvious and seemed quite helpful: As g4rret mentioned, you need to move out of your chest voice (and consequently into your head voice) but to keep some of that nice resonance that you have in your chest voice, try keeping your jaw open a little wider as you speak. The way it was explained was to imagine having something between your molars like a roll of quarters that spread your lower and upper jaw further apart. You don't actually want to spread your jaw apart wide enough for a roll of quarters, but being conscious of it should get you to open your jaw a bit more without visibly contorting your face at all. This seems to give a little depth to your head voice so that it sounds more natural and less breathy.
     
  4. Irisviel

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    This would be a good example of how much pitch difference there is really at stake.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5CVsCnxyXg

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAk93YZgTts

    Amanda Palmer sings just very slightly higher, specifically one step. And this is your goal - to be 1-2, 3 steps above your current voice. Even though the difference is little pitch wise, you can immediately tell which voice is feminine; this is just an example that it is about how you produce the voice, not how high you go.

    Also, don't get obsessed with staying in head voice. It's more about going for the mixed voice, or if I'm using the term incorrectly... lets just say you can't just put all the resonance into your head because you will end up with a nasal voice. So, more of a mix

    This is the best video I've seen, and a good channel in general. Don't expect much concrete advice or magic tricks - but it is a video that should put you into the right mindset. And if you hear her and think wow, I'll never get there - somewhere after 17 minute mark she does the guy voice and it's unbelievable.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWHGS7s7ffY
     
  5. Invidia

    Invidia Guest

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    Thanks. : )
     
  6. Lazuri

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    I wish to argue that a little. It's not a bad idea to consciously speak in falsetto while training because it trains your voice to use the higher register of your voice. You'll notice how speaking in falsetto hurts, but eventually it will hurt less and your natural voice will become higher because of it. Consciously over exaggerating by speaking in falsetto will in turn make you sub-consciously speak in a higher pitch, then you can move on to the next step by learning how to constrict your voice box to lower your resonance--the real culprit in what differs a man's voice from a woman's.
     
  7. Invidia

    Invidia Guest

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    @garret I always enjoy agirlforallseasons's videos, they're always easy to follow. :slight_smile:

    ---------- Post added 11th Apr 2016 at 03:48 PM ----------

    @Lazuri I do train my falsetto quite a bit. I don't know how good I am but... when I sing female songs I tend to be obliged to switch between a pitch near falsetto and basic falsetto (counter-tenoring) to reach the right octave. I think it does help.

    I can see both of your points though - I mean, I think singing in or maybe speaking in (I don't do that rn but whatevs) falsetto could be good for training but shouldn't be an end goal, so to say - you shouldn't constantly speak in a falsetto for the rest of your life, I guess. ^^
     
    #7 Invidia, Apr 11, 2016
    Last edited: Apr 11, 2016
  8. MsEmma

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  9. Invidia

    Invidia Guest

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    Hmm, it was pretty much. I might buy it later. Have you used it, Emma?
     
  10. MsEmma

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    I downloaded it, but haven't purchased any of the lessons. Just wondering how it stacked up to other options before I start plopping down $$. The sample lesson seemed ok, but basic.
     
  11. Invidia

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    Ok cool. ^^ Btw, I don't know why I wrote "it was pretty much" above, I meant to write "it was pretty cheap", lol. Maybe it was my subconscious inner cheapskate talking :lol: