Lavender's Feminine Vocal Training Page

I've been "out" as trans for over 8 years now, but have always neglected my voice training stuff. (besides a very brief period)
Wanting to change this habit and work on my voice, I have started taking some voice lessons with a local coach. This section of my website will serve as a place for me to bring the knowledge I gain from self research, practice, and my vocal sessions.
Essentially, I'm taking notes and consolidating tips and knowledge in a convenient place for myself in the future. Maybe you will find this useful!
Developing a feminine voice involves mastering control over various aspects such as pitch, resonance, articulation, breath control, and overall voice quality. This guide provides the overview and a rigorous practice schedule to help achieve a feminine, soft, and light voice.
PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE!!!

Understanding Key Concepts

The key to a feminine voice lies in understanding and controlling your open quotient (OQ), maintaining light vocal weight, and achieving a soft timbre. The open quotient is the ratio of the time your vocal folds are open versus closed during each cycle of phonation, where a higher OQ results in a breathier, softer sound. Light vocal weight refers to a delicate, less heavy voice that requires controlled breath support and modulation of vocal fold tension. Consistent pitch control is crucial, especially for maintaining a higher pitch with a soft, breathy quality.

Components of a Feminine Voice

Developing a feminine voice involves mastering the following components:

• Pitch: Aim for a higher pitch range (180-250 Hz). Regular practice to raise your baseline pitch is essential. Focus on pitch glides and matching higher pitches. Pitch is not the end all be all, so don't get too caught up on it.
• Resonance: Shift resonance to the front of the mouth and nasal area for a brighter, lighter sound. Practice exercises that emphasize feeling vibrations in these areas.
• Vocal Weight: Weight is where ideas like "open quotient" come from. It's the scale of sound from light and soft to heavy and hard. Or smooth vs. buzzy. Feminine voices have a softer, gentler, smoother sound.
• Articulation: Use clear, precise articulation with gentle consonant sounds. Exaggerated mouth movements can improve clarity and softness.
• Breath Control and Support: Essential for maintaining a soft, steady voice without strain. Focus on diaphragmatic breathing techniques and controlled exhalation exercises.
• Voice Quality: Strive for a soft, breathy voice quality, perceived as more feminine. Exercises to increase the open quotient and reduce vocal weight are crucial.
• Intonation and Melody: Use varied intonation with a gentle, melodic flow to sound more expressive and feminine. Practice reading aloud with upward inflections and melodic patterns.
• Speech Patterns: Adopt speech patterns associated with female speakers, such as varied intonation and expressive facial expressions. Practice these patterns naturally in conversation.
• Consistent Practice and Feedback: Regular practice and self-assessment are key. Record your voice, analyze it, and adjust your routine based on feedback.

Practice Techniques

• Breathy Phonation: Practice saying words and phrases with an intentional breathy quality. Start softly and focus on increasing the open quotient without straining.
• Resonance Shifts: Shift your resonance from your chest to your head and mouth. Practice phrases focusing on feeling vibrations in different parts of your face.
• Vocal Fry Exercises: Begin with a gentle vocal fry and smoothly transition to a higher, breathy pitch. This helps control vocal fold tension.
• Nasal Sounds: Practice nasal sounds like humming “ng” or “mmm” to bring resonance forward and lighten your voice. Focus on feeling vibrations in your nose.
• Lip Buzzes: Perform lip buzzes by vibrating your lips together. This helps relax your vocal folds and improve breath control.
• Consonant Exercises: Practice phrases emphasizing softer consonants like “h,” “f,” and “s.” Repeat slowly and softly to reduce harshness.
• Big Dog Small Dog: Alternate between imitating a "big dog" (deep, resonant bark) and a "small dog" (high-pitched, yappy bark). This exercise helps develop vocal range and agility. Variations include exaggerating the contrast between the two sounds, focusing on volume control (loud and soft), or adding movement (like bending knees or swaying) to engage the body.
• Mirror Feedback: Practice speaking in front of a mirror to observe and adjust your mouth movements and facial expressions for a more feminine presentation.
• Gentle Sirens: Perform sirens, sliding your pitch from low to high and back, maintaining a light, breathy quality throughout.

Best Practices for Vocal Hygiene

• Don't scream or yell as loud as possible: Practice relaxation techniques, avoid getting in "yelling match" arguments, don't scream at the top of your lungs into a pillow when overwhelmed. It damages your vocal folds and will make you lose your voice.
• Hydration: Drink plenty of water throughout the day to keep your vocal folds hydrated. Aim for at least 8 glasses of water daily.
• Avoid Irritants: Stay away from smoking, excessive alcohol, and caffeinated beverages as they can dry out and irritate your vocal folds. Do not use menthol or eucalyptus throat lozenges. Invest in a respirator if working around strong fumes or particulates.
• Healthy Diet: Maintain a balanced diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins. Limit dairy, spicy foods, and acidic foods that can cause reflux.
• Warm-Up and Cool-Down: Always start with gentle warm-ups and end with cool-down exercises to prepare and relax your vocal cords.
• Rest Your Voice: Take regular breaks during the day to rest your voice, especially after extended periods of speaking or singing.
• Proper Technique: Use proper vocal techniques to avoid strain. Focus on breath support and avoid pushing or straining your voice.
• Humidify: Use a humidifier, especially in dry environments, to keep the air moist and protect your vocal cords.
• Manage Reflux: Avoid eating large meals before bedtime and sleep with your head elevated to prevent acid reflux, which can irritate the vocal cords.
• Regular Check-Ups: Visit an ENT specialist or speech therapist regularly to monitor your vocal health and address any issues promptly.
• Regular Check-Ups: Maintain good speaking and singing posture. Do not slouch or bend over when using your voice. Poor posture can actually increase your vocal tract length, which can masculinize the voice.

Semi Occluded Vocal Tract Exercises (SOVTEs)

SOVTEs are a great way to gain better control over your voice, especially if you're a singer or working on your voice through transgender voice training. These exercises use gentle resistance to help smooth out any cracks or breaks in your voice, and they really make you more aware of how your vocal muscles work.
• Lip Trills (Sliding from Low to High and Back): Start by making a lip trill (like blowing raspberries) and slide from your lowest pitch to your highest, then back down. It’s like a vocal rollercoaster! Do this 5 times and focus on keeping it smooth.
• Straw Phonation (Low to High Glide): Grab a straw and hum through it, sliding from low to high pitch. This helps you connect your breath with your vocal cords and keeps everything balanced. Don’t rush it, just glide through your range
• Straw Phonation (Sustain Pitch): Using the straw again, pick a comfortable pitch and hold it at medium volume for as long as you can. This helps with strength and stability. Do this on 5 different notes, but don’t push your voice too hard.
• Humming (Sustain at Soft Volume): Now hum a note, but softly. Focus on keeping everything relaxed while holding the note for as long as possible. Repeat this with 5 different notes to build control, especially for softer parts of your voice.
• Voice Crack Smoothing (Pitch Glides): If you struggle with cracks or breaks in your voice, this one’s for you. Glide through your vocal break (that tricky spot between chest and head voice) using a lip trill or hum. This exercise helps make those breaks less noticeable.
• Bubble Blowing Phonation: Take a glass of water, stick a straw in, and blow bubbles while humming different pitches. It’s great for releasing tension and helping your voice transition smoothly between notes.
• Speech-Like Phonation (Straw or Lip Trill): Try saying short phrases or speaking sounds through a straw or while doing a lip trill. This helps you practice switching between singing and speaking, which is really helpful in transgender voice training to balance your resonance for speech.

Exercises

• Warm-Up Exercises (Pick 3):

  Always perform some form of a vocal warm-up before continuing a voice training session. Preferably just do these in the morning when you wake up to help with morning voice and warm up for the day!
  • Sustained /ee/ (2 minutes): Hold /ee/ softly at F above middle C for females and F below middle C for males (or at a comfortable mid-range speaking pitch if no piano is available) for as long as possible. Repeat 2 times.
  • Lip Trills (2 minutes): Relax your lips and blow air through them to make them vibrate. Start at a comfortable pitch and gradually move up and down your range.
  • Tongue Trills (2 minutes): Roll your tongue while sustaining a pitch. This helps engage your vocal folds without strain.
  • Humming (3 minutes): Hum softly, sliding up and down your pitch range. Focus on feeling vibrations in your lips and nose.
  • Light Sirens (3 minutes): Perform sirens by sliding from your lowest to your highest pitch and back down, maintaining a soft, breathy tone.
  • Power Scale: Hit the notes in your preferred 5-note scale vocal range. Work on the control in transitions from note to note, making it smoother. Go up then back down. Example notes: G3, A3, B3, C4, D4.

• Breath Control (10 minutes):

  • Diaphragmatic Breathing (5 minutes): Place one hand on your abdomen and take deep breaths, focusing on expanding your diaphragm. Inhale for a count of 4, hold for 4, and exhale for 4.
  • Sustained Hissing (5 minutes): Take a deep breath and exhale slowly while making a “ssss” sound. Focus on controlling the airflow and maintaining a steady sound.
  • Bastrika "Dragons Fire": Bastrika is a yoga breathing technique. To perform: Sit in a chair or cross-legged, with good posture. Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths to help relax. To perform the exercise, inhale deeply and forcefully through both nostrils while expanding your diaphragm and chest. Then, exhale forcefully and completely through both nostrils while contracting your abdomen. Repeat this cycle with a steady rhythm for 3 rounds of 7-10 breaths.

• Pitch Training (10 minutes):

  • Pitch Matching (5 minutes): Use a piano or pitch app to match pitches within the feminine range (180-250 Hz). Sing the pitch softly and breathily.
  • Pitch Glides (5 minutes): Glide smoothly between pitches, starting from your comfortable low range to your higher range, focusing on maintaining a light, breathy sound. Repeat from High to Low.

• Resonance and Open Quotient Exercises (5-10 minutes):

  • Resonance Movement Warm-Up: Warm up for resonance by moving our resonance low to high over and over. You can stick with humming and also try "ah". You'll feel vibrations in the different areas of the body (we are going for the facial, frontal resonance - jaw, cheeks, lips).
  • Breathy “ng” Sounds (5 minutes): Produce “ng” sounds with a light, airy quality. Focus on bringing the resonance forward to the front of your face.
  • Soft resonance syllables” (5 minutes): /m/ + vowel syllable at various pitches. Play with that sing-songy intonation and also a monotone intonation (may - me - my - moe - moo). What we are eventually trying to accomplish here is maintaining that high/facial resonance from the consonant (/m/) through the vowel (a, e, i, o, u).

• Vocal Tract Length Exercises (10 minutes):

  • Big Dog Small Dog Exercise (3-5 minutes): Alternate between imitating a "big dog" (deep, resonant bark) and a "small dog" (high-pitched, yappy bark). This exercise helps develop vocal range and agility. Variations include exaggerating the contrast between the two sounds, focusing on volume control (loud and soft), or adding movement (like bending knees or swaying) to engage the body.
  • Glottal Stop Practice (3-5 minutes): Practice using glottal stops to enhance clarity and emphasis in speech. Start with simple words and phrases, inserting glottal stops between vowels or at the beginning of words where applicable.

• Articulation Drills (10 minutes):

  • Gentle Exaggeration (5 minutes): Exaggerate mouth movements while speaking phrases gently. Focus on clarity and softness in your articulation.
  • Breathy Tongue Twisters (5 minutes): Use tongue twisters with a soft, clear articulation. Repeat slowly, ensuring each word is pronounced clearly and softly.

• Intonation and Open Quotient Practice (10 minutes):

  • Soft Reading Aloud (5 minutes): Read a passage aloud with gentle pitch variations and upward inflections, maintaining a breathy tone throughout.
  • Dialogue Practice (5 minutes): Practice conversational speech using a breathy, melodic tone. Record yourself and listen for areas to improve on softness and intonation.

• Vocal Fry Exercises (10 minutes):

  • Vocal Fry on a Single Note: Start with a very relaxed voice and produce a vocal fry on a low note. Sustain the fry for as long as you can, then relax. Do this on 5 different notes across your lower range.
  • Vocal Fry Slide: Start at the bottom of your range and produce a fry. Then slide up in pitch while maintaining the fry as long as possible. This helps develop control over your vocal folds at different pitches.
  • Fry to Modal Voice Transitions: Start with a vocal fry and gradually transition into your normal speaking or singing voice. This helps bridge the gap between the fry and your full voice, strengthening your overall control.

Additional Activities/Homework/Suggestions

• Speech Therapy Sessions: Work with a speech therapist to refine techniques, maintain vocal quality, and receive expert, targeted feedback and guidance. Once per week would be great if possible.
• Singing Practice: Sing soft, female-register songs 2-3 times per week. Slowly build up to 30 minutes per session before fatigue. Focus on breath control and light vocal styles. You should be able to find a variety of kareoke songs on YT. Any singing is helpful, but you will probably want to find female singers who are in the Contralto (F3 - F5) to Mezzo-soprano (A3 - A5) range.
• Reading things out loud:Practice reading phrases, medium length passages, and doing tongue twisters. Focus on control and maintaining the sounds you want. Refer to (voice training pp and tt) for examples. Read to your cat or dog if they are near.

Helpful links and resources

False fold control: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sH8EyvMcGkt_4pOBY4EzfW2MLFfrfL3LnZNsfV-0n3c/edit

Selene Da Silva Voice Clips: https://www.reddit.com/r/transvoice/comments/ztdtll/an_organized_collection_of_selene_da_silvas_clips/