Many nonbinary, trans, genderfluid, and gender non-conforming people want to play with voice—but don’t want to sound specifically “masculine” or “feminine.” The good news is, gender expression is performance, and you can choose how you want to be seen and heard.
If you’ve started gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT), you might have already noticed some changes in your voice. Testosterone can make your voice sound husky during your first couple of months, almost like you have a mild cold. Over time, your voice might drop in pitch and become lower. Testosterone causes your vocal folds (vocal cords) to thicken, lengthen, and vibrate more slowly. The cartilage of your larynx might also grow and tilt, giving you an Adam’s apple. Estrogen, on the other hand, has no impact on your vocal cords if you’ve already been through testosterone-dominant puberty.
If you want to experiment with your voice, you can try the wonderful, free resources in this article. This article shares some helpful information that you can use right away to change the resonance, tone, brightness, and sound of your voice!
This resource was prepared for the Plume community by the vocal coaching team at Your Lessons Now to accompany our 2021 webinar about vocal health, changes, and the joy of voice. If you missed the live webinar, don’t worry! We recorded it and included it in this blog, so you can watch it anytime.
Femme Vocal Exercises
What are exercises to raise or brighten your voice?
While we think of “femme” voices as high and sweet, “femininity” actually has very little to do with whether you’re a soprano or a baritone. “Femme” voices sound bright and raised, as your vocal folds vibrate a little faster and with thinner contact to create a sparkling pitch that catches the ear. The elements of feminine voice include:
- pitch
- resonance
- posture
- sentence structure
- brightness of individual sounds.
Voice feminization exercises can help you achieve a more feminine voice, or a voice that is brighter/higher. By practicing both singing and speaking exercises, you can develop the muscles and vocal agility to sound more feminine. Here’s a video with some beginning exercises, so you can try this style of speaking and singing:
Resonance for Brightening Your Voice
“Femme” voices are resonant in a way that is perceived as brighter, and can be felt vibrating more in the face and head . (Some women and femmes, like Kim Kardashian, make their voices ultra-resonant and speak with tons of vocal fry.) For those of us who aren’t used to speaking with brighter resonance, this can be a hard skill to master. In this video, you can begin to explore adding a new kind of resonance to your feminine voice. Your Lessons Now shows how you can hear a resonance that moves “north” in your body and comes from your face and head, and less from your chest:
Higher Pitch for a More Feminine Voice
Once you’ve played with the sounds of face and head resonance, you can try working on pitch! While women and femmes speak with all kinds of voices, our ears are trained to hear certain pitches as “feminine.” Culturally, we think of “feminine” voices as higher, which can be difficult to achieve without practice, or if you are not used to altering your pitch range. (Spoiler alert: pitch may not be as significant of an element as you might expect!)
Masc Vocal Exercises
Deepening Your Voice with “Darth Vader Breathing”
This exercise is valuable for deepening your voice by creating more space in your throat and mouth, allowing your pitch to naturally lower. By using the “Darth Vader Breathing” technique, you train your vocal muscles to produce a more resonant and masculine sound. It also helps in developing control over your volume and pitch, enabling you to comfortably speak in a lower range.
- Find a quiet and comfortable space to practice. Stand or sit up straight with your shoulders relaxed.
- Take a deep breath in through your nose, allowing your belly to expand fully. Imagine you are breathing in as if you were Darth Vader, making a deep, open, rounded “O” sound as you inhale.
- Exhale slowly and steadily through your mouth while keeping your jaw open and your tongue touching your bottom teeth. The sound you produce should be a low and humming “M” sound.
- Focus on achieving a moderately low pitch that feels comfortable for you. You should be able to produce some volume while maintaining control over your voice.
- Repeat steps 2 to 4 for about 2 seconds per breath cycle. Aim to practice this exercise for at least 10 to 15 minutes, three to four times a day.
- As you become more comfortable, gradually lower your pitch over several weeks to continue deepening your voice.
Short, Sharp “T” Sounds
The “T” sound exercise is beneficial for developing stronger consonant articulation and creating separation between words and syllables. Practicing short, sharp “T” sounds helps you achieve a more masculine speech pattern, characterized by distinct and abrupt enunciation. It also enhances your ability to control your voice, making it more forceful and authoritative.
- Start by taking a deep breath in through your nose, then exhale with a strong and sharp “T” sound as you say “te, te, te” in a whisper. Focus on keeping the “T” sounds short and distinct.
- Repeat the “te, te, te” sounds three times in a row, making sure to create space between each repetition.
- Transition to saying the “te, te, te” sounds out loud while maintaining your low pitch and keeping the “T” sounds strong and obnoxious.
- Combine the “T” exercise with a short example word or phrase, such as “teddy bear.” Say “teddy bear” after completing the “te, te, te” sounds to ensure consistency in your voice.
- Practice this exercise regularly to strengthen your consonant sounds, create separation between words, and achieve a more masculine speech pattern.
Humming and Speech Cadence
This exercise focuses on developing a more monotone and controlled speech cadence, common in masculine speech. Humming at a single pitch and transitioning to speaking sentences slowly and deliberately helps you maintain a consistent pitch without fluctuations. By practicing this exercise, you can eliminate excessive pitch changes and achieve a more authoritative and assertive speaking style, typical of masculine voices.
- Begin by humming a single pitch comfortably within your vocal range.
- Transition from humming to saying a short sentence very slowly and deliberately, pronouncing each word distinctly. Example sentences you can use are:
- “Multiverse theory states that there are infinite universes.”
- “I went to the store today.”
- “I took my cat to look at this tree.”
- “Building codes can be really confusing.”
- “Studying for these midterms is a delicate process.”
- “The price of gasoline makes no sense.”
- Ensure that the pitch remains consistent and does not fluctuate as you speak the sentence. The goal is to maintain a flat and monotone speech pattern.
- Repeat the humming followed by the sentence three to five times, gradually speeding up your speech to a more conversational pace while maintaining the even pitch.
- Practice this exercise with different sentences, focusing on keeping your speech cadence controlled and less melodic to achieve a more masculine speaking style.
Remember, consistency and regular practice are key to achieving your desired vocal transformation. Take your time, be patient with yourself, and celebrate each step of progress along the way!
Androgynous Voice
The key to developing an androgynous voice is exploring the elements of your voice and playing with how different techniques affect it. As you gain awareness of your voice, you will be able to fine-tune it to sound like yourself.
What “androgynous” means to you is personal and individual: you might try mixing the elements of voice that resonate most with you and your expression. Maybe you want to learn how to modulate your pitch up or down. Maybe you want to try adding face resonance, or instead creating a richer sound. Try playing with the tools in these voice tutorials. There is no such thing as an entirely “neutral” voice, just a voice that sounds like your true, authentic self.
Having a voice that matches your new and developing physical characteristics is important to some trans people—and doesn’t matter at all to others. All paths are valid.
The exercises in this article are described as femme, masc, and androgynous. We want to recognize that terms like these are imperfect when relating to personal gender expression and experience. Many trans people choose to speak with their unaltered voices, while others practice vocal exercises to affirm their identities, code-switch in mixed groups, or for safety reasons. Voice is an additional layer of identity that is both malleable and powerful—and all yours to shape, as you choose.
One thing to keep in mind: while tutorials can be helpful, they aren’t a substitute for voice lessons with an experienced vocal coach. If you are feeling stuck, consider working one-on-one with someone who can help you reach your goals for your voice. You can also sign up for our newsletter to learn when the next vocal training webinar is. (Yes, it’s free!)
