fem voice

[tanya50]

I am almost ready to go out in public as a woman. I have one problem, my voice. Can anyone help me with this? Tanya

[Stephenie S]

No, I can't. I can give you some ideas, but I can't change your voice. That IS possible, but very hard. Not exactly hard though, as much as it takes PRACTICE. Consider it to be like learning a foreign language or a musical instrument. It can be done, and done by most everyone who really wants to, but it takes dedication and practice. Practice , practice, practice.

For now, practice softening your voice. Speak lower, more quietly, speak NICER. Smile when you talk.

When I am out and about, I have to talk. Otherwise how could I get anything done? So I have to use my voice pretty much the way it is. Is it a masculine voice? You bet. And there is no way anyone who really listened could consider otherwise. But I talk much more softly. I raise the pitch of my voice when I can. Like when I say "hello", and "goodby". These are easy phrases to practice, and easy phrases to learn.

As I have said before, I try and get people to smile at me. I greet them with a big smile, and a cheerful "Hello" done in my best girly vooice. Once you get a smile in return, it's hard for someone to be mean to you. From then on it's just me and my normal voice, as soft and low (low in volume, not pitch) as I can get it and still be understood.

At some point, when I can shake loose some extra money, I will be getting coached by a speech/language therapist. Until then, I use a big smile and act like this is the most normal thing in the world (which, of course, it is). If you act embarassed, it will make it harder for others to accept you.

So, don't ever let your voice keep you from going out. People will "read" you long before you open your mouth. That's just a fact of life. Act as pleasant and relaxed as you can be, know you have every right to be doing what you are doing, and enjoy yourself. Most others will respond well.

Good luck, hon.
Stephenie

[Jenna Lynne]

I am almost ready to go out in public as a woman. I have one problem, my voice. Can anyone help me with this? Tanya
You can do it! Here are some links from my Bookmarks menu -- all have great tips:

http://www.tsroadmap.com/voice/transsexual-voice.html

http://www.exceptionalvoice.com/transgender.html

http://www.looking-glass.greenend.org.uk/voice.htm

If you can't practice at home, practice while driving around in the car. Turn on the radio, find a talk show (NPR is often good) with a woman interviewee, and echo her phrase by phrase. Try to match her pitch, rhythm, and tone.

I'm not sure why the voice is so tough for so many CDers ... but then I'm a natural mimic. My guyself can do several ethnic accents, so doing a female voice is not a big stretch.

My main suggestion would be, don't try to sound high and squeaky, not at first. Learn to modulate your tone at your normal speaking pitch so that you sound like a husky, breathy woman. It's incredibly sexy. Then raising the pitch a little is just the icing on the cupcake.

***Jenna***

[Jenna Lynne]

Oh, and if you can get your hands on any type of recording apparatus, after practicing for a while try recording yourself and then play it back and critique it. A computer with a consumer-grade multimedia mic should work -- others may have tips on what software you should slip into.:heehee:

As you make progress, try making a few phone calls and asking questions of store clerks. (Blocking Caller ID might be a good precaution.) Once you get used to engaging in extended conversations with strangers over the phone, you'll be a lot less likely to panic when you're face to face.

Panic is the enemy of a natural-sounding voice!

***Jenna***

[SandyR]

Maybe its all the years I spent singing in a band during the 80's, church music, now teaching the high school band down the steet some of the, has they say "old time music...hehe". I have spent so much time working on high notes, Steve Perry, Getty lee, it comes pretty natural. Now if someone could just cure my boy walk, all the hair....heheh..

Sorry not much advice, but I think the girls offer some sound advice.

Hugs.

SandyR

[Rachel Morley]

IMHO this is THE most difficult thing to master (mistress? :heehee:). Certainly this has been the case for me, and I'm still nowhere near where I want to be (yet). My advice to you would be speak slightly slower, slightly softer, and at a very slightly higher pitch than normal but definitely only a little bit higher than your normal voice. Not falsetto.

A tip to find the pitch you should be at, that someone once told me about and that worked quite well for me, was to sing a Diana Ross or Madonna song and as you sing slightly lift your voice to try to match the singer, this is how it should feel in your throat when you attempt to speak in a more femme voice. I have no clue if this will work for you but it worked pretty good for me, with regard to it being a tool to get me closer to where I want to be. Another tip I was told was to exhale as you speak as this automatically (somewhat) softens your voice.

The other thing (like others have said) is practice, practice, practice, and try recording yourself to hear how others would perceive you. If all else fails ..... just say nothing and smile a lot when you are out :D

[JessicaDC]

The way you speak is almost as important as the falsetto voice you're going to have to master. I definitely have a knack with changing my voice but that from years and years of practicing on chatlines pretending to be a girl while dressed.

But you really should learn how girls talk too. Girls speak much differently than men.

[Alex!]

Here's a tip - don't use helium. That doesn't work very well :D

[Jenna Lynne]

The way you speak is almost as important as the falsetto voice you're going to have to master.
It's not a falsetto, really. Sliding up into falsetto momentarily for emphasis is a useful technique, but the normal speaking tone is NOT falsetto. Not unless you want to sound like the dudes in "Some Like It Hot."

***Jenna***

[AmberTG]

Try singing along with Stevie Nicks, she has a low female voice. I practice along with a woman radio announcer who has a fairly low voice for a woman. The main thing I've noticed is that a woman's voice has no low undertones like a man's voice, and usually a woman's voice has a certain higher resonance. I've read that if you breathe out as you speak and raise your voice just a few notes, you can get close. Men tend to push the words out with the diaphram where women generally breathe out the words more gently. Also, men generally change the loudness of their voice where women change the pitch of their voice for emphasis. In theory, all this works, in practice, it takes a lot of work. Your brain is going to fight you every step of the way for a while until it gets used to the new sound of your voice.

[Megan_Girl]

I got my best voice tips from the Melanie Ann Phillip web site.

http://heartcorps.com/journeys/voice.htm

I do a good deal of driving for my job and I'll just drive along yakking away about the things I see just to get the practice.

XXX
Megan