Your voice is an important part of your image as a trans woman or crossdresser. Even if you rarely go out in public as a woman, there will be times when you’ll need to speak to someone.
You want to be the whole pretty package, right? Having a voice that’s congruent with your image is a big part of that.
In this post, I’ll share 5 common voice feminization mistakes that can hold you back from achieving a natural, “passable” female voice.
1. Speaking Too Deeply
No surprise here, but the deeper your voice, the more masculine it will sound.
How do you know if your voice is too deep? Your best option is to use a frequency tuner to measure the pitch of your voice. Here are the typical frequency ranges for masculine and feminine voices:
- Male voices typically range from 100-150 Hz
- Female voices typically range from 175-250 Hz
The good news is that you can easily measure the pitch of your voice by using a frequency tuner app on your phone. Here are a couple free apps for both iOS and Android:
2. Speaking In Falsetto
Trying to mask a deep voice by speaking in an unnaturally high voice – otherwise known as falsetto – isn’t good, either. Speaking this way doesn’t make you sound like a woman, it makes you sound like Minnie Mouse.
While you do want to raise the pitch of your voice, you never want to go too high. Again, a frequency tuner is invaluable for helping you find your correct range.
3. Whispering
If you are self conscious about your voice, you may try to compensate by speaking more softly.
However, lowering the volume of your voice doesn’t make you sound more feminine, it just makes it impossible to hear you.
4. Upswinging Your Sentences
Women naturally have more “melodic intonation” to their voices. In other words, they are more animated when they speak.
Some crossdressers and transgender women make the mistake of trying to imitate this by “upswinging” their voices at the end of every sentence.
Upswinging your voice tends to make each sentence sound like a question. The result is that you sound like a stereotypical Valley Girl, which is probably not the type of woman you want to emulate.
5. Pinching Your Voice
One of the reasons that men have deeper, richer voices than women is because they have a larger “throat space.”
If you try to compensate for your deeper voice by constricting your throat, the result will sound pinched. Think Pee Wee Herman or Kermit the Frog. Again, this is something you will want to avoid.
Avoiding these mistakes is the first step towards achieving a passable feminine voice
It’s easy to go wrong in your attempts to feminize your voice. The good news is that you CAN achieve a passable feminine voice with the right tools and strategy.
That’s why I’m so excited to share my new course, Vocal Feminization for Beginners: 30 Day Transformation!
Taught by opera singer and vocal coach Lera Sonzogni, this easy-to-follow program will teach you the basics of achieving a feminine voice in just 30 days.
Learn more about Vocal Feminization for Beginners here!
Love,
Lucille
P.S. Before you go, be sure to take my voice feminization poll below. I’d love to know how important this issue is for you, along with your thoughts on the topic!
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Super tips. Within minutes of practicing my sound has become completely more feminine. I still fluctuate up and down a bit, but this was a huge step forward.
I want to feminine my voice and other parts of me.voice is going to need work on
The frequency app is definitely handy (thanks for that!) I totally do the upswing, a lot of my friends say I sound like a Taylor Swift fan lol, But to be fair, my regular voice never really sounded male. I’m pretty tough on myself though, so always room for improvement! x
Hi, I currently practicing every day. I believe I’m getting better. I’m also reading all your tips. I’ve been out a few times but nothing too long. In a couple weeks I’m going on travel to Las Vegas and will not be brining any male cloths. I plan to live as a women for a week and see how it goes. I’m excited yet nurvous. This is a very important step in my life. I know I feel great and confident when in fem. I’m hoping I feel the same way at the end of the week. If so I need to chose my next step slowly. Maybe tell a friend and some day I want to be able to wear a dress to work…thanks for the rips…signed scared but excited Tina
I heard too many ts girls that could be heard to have a fake voice – plus mine was deep.
My recommendation is to have voice feminization surgery with Dr. Kim in Seoul South Korea.
I went there myself and with numerous clients and the results speak for themselves.
Singing nowadays has become the fun it was before the voice broke and the register is now correct.
I cannot say enough good about Kathe Perez’s TG voice materials. I own all of the CDs and they have helped me achieve a passable voice that many have told me is beautiful. 🙂
So happy to hear that! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Because of an accident in junior high school, my voice really hasn’t changed that much. I just need to practice speaking as a woman now and be identified as such if you know what I mean. 🙂
I have just downloaded the frequency tuner. I have been practising my voice for a bit but suddenly I now all I have been doing is practising having a high-ish male voice. It is such a revelation! Thank you for this post. You may just have changed my life.
Alannah