voice change

[JenniferZ2009]

So for the past few months I have been working on my voice while driving to and from work. Its about a 40 minute drive.
Also have been spending more time as a female in public.

So the cool thing is that last week I was at home talking with my roommate and I realized I was not talking with resonance and I sounded different to myself (in what I call my usual male voice).

It was then that I tried to talk with resonance and WOW my voice was deep. But it was uncomfortable to do so. I now talk without resonance without any effort.

I listened to some of my old voice recordings and man I sound different now. I had no idea how far along I have come and I thought my voice still sucked.

So practice does make perfect.

[Maryanne_sa]

Hi there,

Glad to hear that the voice seems to be going well. Did you have voice training lessons?

Do you have any pointers on how to go about speaking without resonance, which I assume is what males have when they speak.

Many thanks,

Maryanne

[tamarav]

Head up North a bit and lets talk! Nothing like a little girl to girl time...

[Veronica_Jean]

That is very encouraging.

My voice is one of the big hurdles I continue to struggle with. I suspect I have simply been too lazy on spending time getting better.

Thanks for the boost!

Veronica

[Stephenie S]

One of the BIGGEST hurdles to changing your voice is your own reluctance to actually DO it. It sounds silly and unnatural to you when you try.

But think now; many, many women's voices sound silly and unnatural. Really, think about it. How many times have you thought or even spoken, "OMG, does THAT woman talk funny".

Women's voices are all OVER the place, ranging from high and squeaky to low and sultry, and everywhere in between. So when you try, of COURSE it's gonna sound weird, and you immediately revert to your old tried and true comfortable "guy" voice

Consequently, I often say that transition, or 24/7 living, is the most positive step you can take to develop your feminine voice. If you HAVE to use it, if you CAN'T go back to your "guy" voice because you're not a "guy" any more, you may get in the required practice needed to actually DO this.

On a practical note, get your voice UP out of your chest. Get the monotony out of your voice. Put a lot more musicality IN your voice. And most important, don't be afraid to sound silly. Women's voices DO sound silly a lot of the time. Spend some time actually listening to women (on the radio, TV, and in movies) if you don't believe this. Grace's employee on "Will and Grace" would be a good place to start.

Eventually you will find YOUR voice. Women are not BORN talking that way any more than YOU were born talking that way. Both women and men LEARN how to talk. The models we learn from, our parents, our playmates, radio, TV, movies, all structure our "sound". You CAN change your voice. Of all the "markers" that identify you as male, it's the ONE thing that you can change, easily, at home, and for NO money what so ever.

Stephie

[Faith_G]

One of the BIGGEST hurdles to changing your voice is your own reluctance to actually DO it. It sounds silly and unnatural to you when you try.Yes! When I first started working on my voice I HATED how I sounded. I went a little too expressive at first and I thought I sounded like I was mocking a woman. Then I toned it down too far and started sounding like a GPS unit. It is really hard to not get frustrated and discouraged and just give up on it.

I won't say my voice is perfect or even good, but when I interact with people who don't know me I don't get the "OMG that's a guy" look that I used to get every time I spoke. So I guess it's acceptable.

[Lexine]

I actually started with my voice change just by singing to the tune of my favorite female artists while driving in the car. The key is to be able to move that resonance from your chest up in your head. This won't make sense until you actually try to do this regularly, so the key here is to just keep doing it when you have a chance so you can eventually relax your larynx. I hope I made sense! :doh:

[Katesback]

Totally agree with Stephanie.

If you re living life in boy and girl presentations you always have the opportunity to run back to being a boy.

If you went full time the voice would become critical!!!!!!!!

Katie

[luvSophia]

So practice does make perfect.
And nothing BUT practice will make it perfect. I was very self-conscious about using my female voice at first because, like Stephenie said, it felt and sounded unnatural to me. But eventually I realized that since most of the people hearing it had no idea what my "natural" voice sounded like in the first place, the voice that they heard sounded fine.

[PortiaHoney]

I have been singing along to female artists for years, sometimes OK, most times not. Then, I was dressing relatively seriously and never gave the voice much thought - too hard for every now and then. Then I went to see a psych to go on hormones and he tells me my preparations are great - "but, what are you doing with your voice?". Huh? Well, the picture looks ok, but even if the picture is perfect, MY voice will give me away.

Darn. So, I have been practicing in the shower (you soon hear the resonance in there), in the car (drive alone and sing a lot, preferably with the windows up) and then in preparation to go FT, using a recorder to see just how bad I was. 53 attempts to change my answering message on my phone was great practise too. I don't think I sound like an effeminte gay man any more and most of the time, I think I am getting away with the voice with strangers. But, it was my first day back to work today after 3 weeks off to get used to being FT, but by lunchtime I was having issues answering the phone and talking to customers because my voice was just plain tired.

I guess I am lucky, I get lot's of opportunities to practise on the phone and face to face. I too thought my voice sounded a bit weird, until I just accepted that it's not going to sound like MY voice after a lifetime of trying to sound more manly to hide my feminine desires. Eventually, my voice will become a natural part of me, but until then, I will remain self conscious, concentrate on learning to sound more feminine and keep asking those close to me what they think. I just wish they wouldn't answer that question with "you sound like you", even if it is true.

[Carole Cross]

I have been abiy lazy with my voice. I am into my third week of full time and still use my male voice at work. It is not an issue there because I work in a factory enviroment and do not interact with the general public.

I have been singing to increase my vocal range and it is working and my voice is not as deep as it used to be but I still sound like a guy. I guess I am just a bit scared of sounding a bit silly, as others have said. I now have a friend who lives nearby, who is also transitioning, so maybe we can practice together.

[JenniferZ2009]

Maryanne and Veronica,

I have not seen a voice therapist yet although I had my assessment by one last week and next week I start voice therapy official. She did say last week that she was impressed with my own progress. It is cool when a seasoned voice therapist is taken aback when you show her your natural voice.

What I have done so far is using a little of this and a little of that.I started with tips from a girl named Candy on you tube.

She goes through a basic going into falsetto and then dropping down. I combined this with what a friend of mine did which is to use the muscles in your through to squeeze your vocal cords sorta. What would happen is that my Adams apple would move up my through a little bit when I did it right.

It was really hard to do at first but I found that when you swallow your Adams apple does it naturally so I would get it there by swallowing and holding it there.

Be carefull when you first start and only practice for a 5 or 10 minutes a day at first until it gets less and less sore to do. My thought was so sore sometimes.

Eventually I would practice more and more and I got to the point where I would start talking in falsetto and drop it down and talk and talk and talk . Mostly I would go over what I was going to do today at work , what project I had, how I was going to do it. IT actually has mad eme more efficient at work since now I get to work and dont have to figure out what I am going to do.

All that got my through and voice ued to talking with out resonance. But it was not until I spoke with a female voice at home all the time that I think it really started to change. Like everyone else said the more you use it the better it will get.

Oh yeah bug thing was a tape recorder. Digital one is the best I think. You cant change what you cant hear. I would blabber into that thing all the drive home and listen to it every few seconds and changed my pitch accordingly.

I wish you all luck and be careful to not strain yourself. My voice therpist told me that you can only go so far with the method I am using and that is why I am going to avoice therapist. I have the resonance thing down but I sure don't have the rest. I am only a little above teh average male pitch wise I was told.

[Empress Lainie]

I have been singing along in the car also. I found to my delight that my voice is a perfect pitch match with Anne Murray.

When I transitioned in one day to 24/7 I feared my voice would never do. Was I wrong. I really worried about nobody taking me to be a woman because of my voice. It has been nearly 3 years, I have been hired as a gg, and have always been accepted as such.

Surprise, it never happened (except on the phone, and if someone listens to me but doesn't LOOK at me.)

I speak with a softer more musical voice and perhaps but not always a deliberately higher pitch than my original voice.

My mother actually had a lower voice than mine and I have dealt with many gg's that also have lower voices than mine.

So my fear was like the boogey man, it just didn't exist. Maybe I am just lucky and my voice is more androgynous, but my fears were never realized, thank goodness.

I have a feeling that if you present as an acceptable woman, and act as such, the voice really is not an issue.

[jenna_woods]

that's great I learned to change my voice driveing to work also

[Lexine]

Just to add to this, I actually sang to the parts of Belle in the "Belle" song from Beauty and the Beast... and maybe one other song from the same album. It's difficult, for sure, but there were some inflections there that helped me find out how I can project my feminine voice and when to breathe, etc. I guess I'm obsessed with this song because I used to be able to sing it when I was 12 then, when puberty hit, I couldn't do it anymore ^^;;;;;

[Nicole Erin]

It is not hard to find your female voice.
The hard parts are using it a lot and fine tuning it.
And for liking it or not, well none of us like the sound of our own voice when on a recorder.
I know when I was finding mine, I expected some beautiful princess voice but nope, just a normal woman voice. bleh

I am no expert but I know how to do it.

[Kayla Shadows]

I practice when I can.Work is about a half hour away and I do what i can.I'll try at times when im home too.There has been some improvement since I started.I dont think my regular speaking voice is as low now.Practice,practice.Sometimes i think i just sound retarded but i dont know.I dont like...I guess its better than the deep voice it was

[Empress Lainie]

Alex speaking of voice before puberty I could hit the 2nd above middle C with a clarity you wouldn't believe.

I hated it when my voice changed and I couldn't sing with the girls any more, that was during the 8th grade.

I found that there are 3 other Lainie Nelson's and all of them are singers, one was in I Dream of Jeannie.

[Carole Cross]

Today I had to try and use my female voice when I had to book my car in for a yearly MOT test. I just tried to speak without resonance and I think I did quite well. The person I spoke to was a woman and she was very nice and didn't seem fazed at all, it's fairly obvious I am a genetic male. This is not he first time I have used this voice and on that occasion I did manage to fool the receptionist at my GPs surgery with my voice. it was only when I had to give my name that she realised, she was looking for a female name on the screen. :D

I will try and use this voice more and see how it goes, it is a little hard to keep it going for long though. I suppose it will get easier.

[JoAnne Wheeler]

I had an interesting experience last week. My Spouse, who is totally against my Transition, called me on my cellphone and I had just let my therapist's office and I was presenting as my real feminine self. She told me to stop sounding like a woman on the telephone and talk to her in my "male" voice.

I try to watch how I talk when out in public and on the telephone. I try to speak softly and concentrate on my enunciation. Sometimes I forget which voice I am using.

I am really getting tired of trying to be two different people.

JoAnne Wheeler

[abigail43]

So for the past few months I have been working on my voice while driving to and from work. Its about a 40 minute drive.
Also have been spending more time as a female in public.

So the cool thing is that last week I was at home talking with my roommate and I realized I was not talking with resonance and I sounded different to myself (in what I call my usual male voice).

It was then that I tried to talk with resonance and WOW my voice was deep. But it was uncomfortable to do so. I now talk without resonance without any effort.

I listened to some of my old voice recordings and man I sound different now. I had no idea how far along I have come and I thought my voice still sucked.

So practice does make perfect.
Thanks you say your voice sounds different can I ask you in what way is it different I understand your voice is no so deep so does it sound more femme do know if any one else has commented

[Traci Elizabeth]

OK! Here is a novel ideal! While on this website read all the threads out loud in your woman's voice. The longer you are on here, the quicker you will master "your" voice.

If you are on here, you must be somewhere that affords you enough privacy to talk out loud. Try it, it's working for me.

NEVER read silently...you will thank me later! :GD::GD:

[Midnight Skye]

Just to add to this, I actually sang to the parts of Belle in the "Belle" song from Beauty and the Beast... and maybe one other song from the same album. It's difficult, for sure, but there were some inflections there that helped me find out how I can project my feminine voice and when to breathe, etc. I guess I'm obsessed with this song because I used to be able to sing it when I was 12 then, when puberty hit, I couldn't do it anymore ^^;;;;;

Yeah I distinctly remember crying and being deep down in the dumps when my voice changed... it happened when I was about 10-12 as well. And I too went from a distinctly female voice (I was chosen to sing a high pitched duet with a tiny little gal).

Ever since then... I've gotten a very feminine voice down through similar methods as you Jennifer. Think the biggest thing I pulled out you mentioned is your voice does start to get "stuck" in the softer tones and lower resonance. Mine has distinctly... and a few people at work have noticed... actually I just answered the phone last week with my total fem voice to a coe-worker... "Huh? Is this Skye? What! My word you sound like a child!" My hand slapped over my mouth as I tried my best to not giggle to death.

From what you're saying though Jennifer... I'm wondering about the voice therapist and how it will go for you. I'm curious if I could make further progress. The thing which confuses me the most is while I've found a feminine voice to talk in... I can't sing well with the voice. My range is horrible and I can't figure out how to improve it. Its driving me nuts.

[got2free.Ollie]

wow so practice makes perfect or pretty darn close huh?
I'm actually trying to go the OTHER way and make myself sound more masculine. I already have a deeper than usual voice for a girl and I can fake going up to sound more girly but I've always hated it because of this weird way I speak. I like how I sound in my head by in voice recordings I really don't like it. So just practicing helped you? how long in total did it take to see a massive change for you?

[Midnight Skye]

Personally I talked on the drive to and from work (one hour each way) probably 2-3 days a week. I'd say over three-5 months things got distinctly different. It really started changing when I started using a feminine voice all the time. Now almost a year latter I don't sound the same at all. I sound distinctly feminine all the time. If I talk normal... its comes out feminine male. If I nudge it I can chat in female territory ;) Still its not the best... my range sucks lol.