Question: How to Change my Voice Pitch
Eli asks…
so I’m 15 and dfab (designated female at birth) and I’ve been having trouble with my gender for a year or two now. at first I thought it was like some internalised misogyny going on but sometimes I really feel like I’d be happier being a boy but other times I’m pretty chill with being a girl.
The problem is, while I don’t have a super high voice, it’s recognisably feminine, I can make it go down a pitch or two of I try but it’s still pretty high. I wanted to know if there’s any way I can make my voice deeper or have the ability to go deeper without testosterone.
Please post your response in the comments below.
» Ask Genderfork «
Posted by Freiya on May 28th, 2015 at 08:00 am
Category: questions 5 comments »
May 28th, 2015 at 2:39 pm |
I know there is voice coaching, maybe that is an option
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May 28th, 2015 at 3:14 pm |
If you practice speaking at the edge of your register, you’ll eventually stretch your range out and be able to speak lower and lower. (And the inverse is true for folks with lower voices who want to have a higher pitch.) But pitch isn’t everything about how your voice “reads.” Bea Arthur’s voice was very deep, yet still unquestionably feminine, and a lot of it is about timbre and projection.
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May 30th, 2015 at 2:36 pm |
Here’s a video and article about vocal coaching for trans folks, from my local Minneapolis paper. Maybe that would give you some ideas? http://www.startribune.com/expert-coaches-help-transgender-people-find-a-new-voice/297556501/
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May 31st, 2015 at 4:34 pm |
There are lots of youtube videos from pre-T transguys talking about voice training – the same voice training that you’d do regardless of whether you eventually wanted to go on T or not. If you look at a bunch of them and try out their techniques, you can see which ones work for you. I do three types of actual vocal stretches and massage my neck and do neck stretches every day, once to three times daily. It definitely has to be a daily thing. I started this a couple months ago, and still have to consciously try to speak from my chest every time I open my mouth. I’ve just started to be able to go up to someone and talk in a deeper voice, but it’s harder when someone talks to me first and I have to not only think of an answer, but remember to take a deep breath from my diaphragm too. It’s a huge pain, but it’s gotten easier the more I’ve done it. And these dudes all talk about how they all got the hang of it until it was second nature to talk deeper.
It’s also about tone and speech patterns. I’ve been trying to slow down my speech, because the faster I talk, the more feminine my speech patterns – just because that’s what I’m used to doing. But if I slow down, I can focus on having masculine emphases and using masculine mannerisms while I talk.
Pay attention to what males do, too. Don’t try to copy them right away, but if you notice a common pattern, practice it in front of a mirror or with friends, or film yourself. If you don’t look sincere, you probably won’t pass and/or will appear super awkward.
It takes a lot of effort; it’s something you have to stick with. But if you see those guys on youtube, it’s so worth the effort.
:D
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June 5th, 2015 at 10:18 am |
There’s a couple of things you can do here. Your vocal cords are what determine the majority of the way your voice sounds, and they’re controlled by muscles. Muscles can be stretched to some extent and a longer vocal cord produces a deeper note. So the thing to practice here is singing. Pick a song with a nice, simple, powerful tune (I like Amazing Grace; hate away) and sing it as loud as you can while sticking to the tune. Then try singing it as low (pitch) as you can. Go as high as you can, then back in the middle. You should be a lot louder the second time around. Now try going low again. Guess what? This time, not much has happened. But over a time, your bottom notes will get deeper. As you work on getting louder, you can work on chest voice as well. Men tend to speak with the chest and women with the head so if you want to come across as more masculine, try for a more declarative delivery (This is what it is.) and less tonal meandering, and shoot for a more chesty voice. Put the palm of your hand on your upper chest so your palm straddles your chestbone and your thumb touches your collarbones and speak. Now try to make your chest vibrate when you speak so your palm picks up the vibrations. That’s how men typically speak, so you can learn to copythe socialised behaviors to the extent you feel comfortable with. As far as singers go, very masculine voices are like Johnny Cash’s – deep, yes, but tonally flat and clear, hard and chesty. Feminine voices are like Tori Amos -soft, tonally alive and fluid, expressive. Singing and speech have a lot in common and if you want to work on your voice trying both singing and speaking is a good strategy, I’d say. I hope this is helpful and good luck.
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