Hiya, I hope everyone is having a comfy weekend (:
Today I’d love to read people’s perspective on their vocal training. I’m barely a day in, finding numerous exercises and opinions and coaches from various backgrounds. And of course practicing for myself.
My question right now is per the title, how important are the technical aspects of finding the right voice, versus simply practicing and re-training your vocal muscles? My femme voice is too breathy and it sounds forced and I have to stop myself elongating words to hold the higher pitch.
I’m wondering how you find the difference between actually doing something wrong (or falling in to beginner’s traps), and just needing to speak that way more frequently and for longer periods.
I’d really appreciate any tips, on this or in general, or even questions from other people! As I don’t see a vocal related thread posted here recently.
I think what has worked best for me was getting to know some of the things to do that makes the voice more feminine, and then spend a lot of time doing the things while recording myself so I can immediately hear if I did it right and what happens if I combine them.
It kinda sucks that it requires actually listening to the voice tho 🥲
I don’t know if this is the best way to do it, but when I started my pitch range was terrible so I decided to talk all the time in highest pitch voice I could comfortably do and it really wasn’t that much higher. I’ve been doing it for about a week and I can now go a lot higher than I used to. I’ve also noticed that while doing this my resonance moved up even though I wasn’t trying to, I’m thinking maybe I did it subconsciously or something. My voice still sounds masc though, but it is a lot closer to a femme voice than it used to be.
I’m basically in the same boat, so take my input with a grain of salt. That said, from what I’ve read, it’s important to avoid, or at least be careful with, guides that focus on muscle training. There are exercises out there that can apparently be harmful and cause injury. When I get started in earnest, I’m planning to begin with TransVoiceLessons on YouTube. The girl in those videos frequently makes the point that nothing in voice training should be painful or cause strain, which sounds sensible and encouraging to me. Of course, there will be muscle memory training - it’s muscle strength training that can be problematic.
That might be off topic to your actual question, but I wanted to throw it out there just in case.
Yeah, I started with TransVoiceLessons too. Her beginner’s video on weight vs pitch helped a lot.
At the start, doing exercises to stretch your vocal chords and generally just practice is the most important thing. You can worry about fine detail later- a big part is training your muscle fibers to do what you want, and like any muscle, the more you use it, the stronger it gets. In this case strength won’t lead to power, but rather, control.
Pitch is the last thing to work on. Resonance is the most important aspect (if your goal is to pass). Intonation is very important as well, and there are certain ways of speaking that are associated with cis female voices, like upward inflection at the end of a sentence.
It takes time- with a good clinician in a well supported program, someone who is out and using their new voice, it may take as little as 6 months. Doing it alone via the internet, it will likely take longer (especially if you’re not out - practice is key!) so don’t get discouraged. Just practice, practice, practice!
The shower and the car (if you have one) are generally safe places to practice, and since we travel and bath everyday (ideally), it can be a good way to work in consistent practice.
Good luck! You got this!
Gosh yes, I’m having lots of problems with resonance, I can’t stop sounding hollow :(
I still can’t really tell if I’m doing something wrong or if I just need more practice! I guess I’ll just practice until the new year and then maybe look for a clinician!
Thank you very much, this was super helpful <3
I’ve done voice training for the last 6 years on and off. Consistency is really hard to manage. I find myself very often falling back into… masculine voice? I don’t really know what to refer to it as lol. I work over the phone, and people really give you a hard time if your voice sounds off or weird to them. My struggle is finding a consistent configuration of vocal muscles that reliably produces an acceptable outcome. I’m personally going to be pursuing surgical options in the near future.
If you can see an actual trained vocal therapist, they can help a lot. They can give you on the fly specific feedback and may be covered by your insurance. They can also tailor advice specifically to you and guide you in making changes. I had my best results in vocal therapy. As in the case with my job, keep in mind how you use your voice. Like the different circumstances in which you regularly use it, the different tones you regularly use it in, and try and develop a habit of manually adjusting your muscles. You’ll unconsciously relax them when you’re not speaking. Helps to have some kind of reminder to adjust them again. Like before I answer the phone at work, I take a moment to adjust my vocal weight and practice my opening just so I can adjust a bit before speaking with someone.
Practice and experimentation are key. You have to get familiar with manipulating the different muscles of the throat, mouth, and larynx. Give yourself time and don’t be discouraged if things aren’t perfect the first time.
