I agree with what several others have stated, changing your voice is a lot more than just raising your pitch. Myself? I just completed about 3-4 months of voice therapy. It cost about $120 for an hour session. I started at the beginning of January, had my last online session a week ago, and I will be having a group session this weekend. Then I am on my own to continue practicing. Did it help? Yes! Tremendously. I am a large advocate of working with a professional. I know there is a cost associated with that and not everyone can afford it, but a professional is well worth the money.

Well.... it is well worth it, if you are going to practice. Like 5-6 times per day practice. Practice that starts off slow and small, like 5-6 minutes at a time and then progressively gets longer and longer. As well, if you are practicing the proper methods it will get results. If you just practice what someone else said, and only do it occasionally, here and there, then that is the type of results you will get. I am a teacher and have been so for 23 years. I work with middle school students, but have worked with elementary, high school, and adults. All the ones that fail, why is it? Lack of time, effort, energy, persistence, dedication. Basically, practice... they don't.

I made a deal with myself, if i was going to spend the time with a prof, and spend the money for a pro, then I better practice! And practice I did. My therapist had not had anyone who practiced the way I did, and continue to do so. I recorded our sessions and would play them back. I made flashcards of things to remember, warm-ups to try, and different practice sessions. I practiced in the morning on my walk, in the shower, while getting ready, while driving to work, with my classes, with my coworkers, with my wife, with my sister, with my friends, in the car, on the way home, while eating dinner, and before I went to bed. Everyday? Nope, but most.

Has it helped? Yup. I'm gendered as female pretty much every time I am speaking and people can't see me. The few times I wasn't gendered properly, I was super upset and not paying attention to how I was speaking. This one guy gendered me as male, I quickly adjusted my speech, and he didn't do it again. So apparently my therapy has greatly helped as I never got gendered properly on the phone in the past.

Okay, blah, blah, blah..... my absolute best advice? Get professional help. I know all of this transition "stuff" is stupid expensive. I am paying about $1800 every four weeks for my facial electro. My voice therapy added about an extra $500 per month. Sucks. But worth it, because I will have this voice for the rest of my life. And honestly being gendered properly on the phone is totally priceless!

Oh I should say, that I already had lots of things going for me.... I had good female speech patterns to begin with, as well as good intonation. Also, my body and facial gestures have been quite feminine for years. I was doing that long before I transitioned, yes people always questioned me about it.

Hmmm..... any advice I can give that wont cost an arm and a leg????? Don't raise your pitch too high. I was surprised that my target pitch was 190. It is in the feminine range, but far lower than what I thought I should be trying to do. Apparently that is the average pitch for a woman my age. And much of a feminine voice is within the intonation - the rise and fall of a voice. So sure it is higher at times, but also lower at time. When I tried to aim for a far higher pitch my wife said I sounded super fake and Minnie Mouse like. Now my pitch sounds much lower, but my voice is actually more feminine.

What else??? When I am speaking I am trying to remember to be soft on hard consonants, being careful on low vowel sounds, keeping my mouth cavity more closed to have a less cave-like resonance, keeping my tongue forward, keeping my lips retracted, being cautious of Ls and Rs as they produce low sounds, being aware of the difference between the vocal cognates with voiced and un-voiced sounds, keeping my mouth open to help produce a lighter tone. Ummm..... yeah, oh also, adding in things like tag phrases, women tend to do that more, using more colorful and expressive language. Uhhh..... okay, that is about it. Notice I didn't say much about raising my pitch? Yeah, voice is an involved thing.

Sorry about the length of my post - since switching hormones I seem to lack the ability to write small posts! Hahahahahaha!!!!