Myth:
Having good breath and posture means sitting up really straight and puffing up your chest OR only breathing into your belly. Fact: Posture and breathing are related, of course, but a good breath involves all the parts of the breath mechanism including your ribs and diaphragm. A great breath is one that you can feel all the way around your torso but doesn’t make you lift your shoulders high, shove your stomach way out, or puff up anything. A great breath simply supplies your vocal folds with enough air to use your voice the way you want. Useful info: Your lungs, which are housed in your rib cage, are made of spongy tissue. When the muscles around them contract, air is sucked in like a vacuum via negative pressure. The tiny muscles in between your ribs, as well as your diaphragm which is underneath the rib cage, contract to help bring in air to your lungs. The air passes through your larynx and trachea when you inhale and exhale. When air moves through your adducted (brought together) vocal folds, it blows them apart; the vocal folds recoil and this process is repeated hundreds of times per second. When you increase the amount of lung pressure going to the vocal folds, this can change the tension and raise the pitch and also usually increases the volume of your voice. Slow and steady: Just as you are sitting/standing/walking/riding the train and reading this, try to feel your breath. What parts of your body are moving when you inhale and exhale? Do you feel your breath in your lower torso, or upper, or both? Is it fast or slow? Is it deep or shallow? If you change your posture, how does that affect the breath? Here are a few things to check for in your breath:
Fast Track/Goldilocks: In the Goldilocks fairy tale, the title character tries too much of one thing, not enough, and then gets it just right. You can use this method with voice, too! Try speaking the phrase “Sally sells sea shells on Saturdays” in three different ways.
What can you notice about your habitual breathing patterns by doing this exercise? Do you think you use enough air in normal speech? Too much? Too little? As you approach some of the upcoming vocal warm ups and exercises, you will have the best results if you are breathing well. Starting any kind of voice work with a relaxed but engaged breath will help keep your voice healthy while you build stamina and flexibility in your new speaking voice. Breath is not a set-it-and-forget-it process; you will probably always be checking in with your breath and discovering new things about it as your whole vocal mechanism develops, and that’s great! Stay flexible and open to respiratory experiences! Tl;dr Breathing is not a set-it-and-forget-it thing; you have to keep working at it. You should feel your breath all the way around your torso, without any constriction or tension. Make sure to take enough breaths in conversation so you don’t run out of air or use too much air. Also, changing your speech patterns will probably require you to use your breath and body differently than you used to. One Weird Trick: Check your s/z ratio! The [s] sound is “unvoiced,” meaning that your vocal folds don’t have to vibrate to make that sound. On the other hand, [z] is “voiced,” so your vocal folds vibrate when you make that sound. The s/z ratio is a measure of how many seconds you can hold out an [s] sound compared to how many seconds you can hold a [z] sound (at a comfortable pitch and volume), and it can tell you a lot about your breath management when you use your voice. Take in a deep breath and hold out “ssss” as long as you can. Do this three times and write down the longest duration. Repeat with “zzz” sound. Divide your [s] seconds by your [z] seconds. If the number is 1, great! You have excellent breath management during voice use! If the number is greater than 1.4, you may need to work a bit on your breath or your healthy voice production. More info about s/z ratio here.
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Myth:
I have to talk at A220 in order to be perceived female. OR I have to talk at C130 in order to be perceived male. Fact: Pitch does play a part in voice perception, but it isn’t everything, and it’s easy to latch onto one particular pitch as the standard or the singular measure of vocal success. In truth, humans have a wide variety of pitch ranges, and finding a range that suits your personality and your vocal instrument is much more reliable than holding yourself to one particular frequency. Useful info: Pitch ranges for perceived female, perceived male, and gender neutral: Perceived female: 165 Hz - 350 Hz (E3 - F4) Gender neutral: 155 Hz - 247 Hz (D#3 - B3) Perceived male: 87 Hz - 175 Hz (F2 - F3) Where are you now? Speak the phrase, “I like pie” in an easy, natural voice. If you can, hold out the word “pie” for a few seconds. Using a tuner (or pitch-measuring device or app) measure the pitch at which you land on the word “pie.” Try this a few times and come up with an average. Where does your average pitch fall within the above gender pitch ranges? Slow and steady: Feminine voice: Once you discover your habitual average pitch range, choose a note that is 2-3 semitones above that. For example, if your habitual pitch is D3 (~147 Hz), try the following exercises on E3 (~165 Hz). The change will feel small at first, but keep checking in to make sure there is no strain or tension when you do the exercises. If you feel strain or tension, refer to One Weird Trick: Breath and Body. Remember that increased lung pressure helps produce higher pitches. Masculine voice: Once you discover your habitual average pitch range, check in to see if there is any tension in or around your throat. Training your voice to go lower can sometimes be more difficult than training it to go higher. If you are already at the limit of your low range when you talk, skip to One Weird Trick: Resonance. You’ve already done this work and it’s time to polish your voice. If you have not reached your very lowest note, choose a pitch that is one semitone below your habitual speaking pitch for the following exercises. For example, if your habitual pitch is B3 (~247 Hz) try the exercises at A#3 (~233 Hz). Fast Track: Regardless of your desired vocal style, perform the following exercises at G3 (~196 Hz) and maneuver higher or lower from there. G3 (~196 Hz) is within the gender neutral pitch range, and most folks are able to execute this exercise at this pitch. Check in for tension or strain, and if you feel any, refer back to One Weird Trick: Breath and Body. Remember the “fact” listed above! Although this Fast Track gives you a particular pitch to start from, there is no gold standard and it’s up to you to find a range of pitches that feels comfortable and natural. Now that you have determined your target pitch, you can move on to the exercises. Pitch exercise 1: At your desired pitch level:
Pitch exercise 2: At your desired pitch level:
Pitch exercise 3: Select 10-20 short phrases that you often say. Below are some samples: Hi, how are you? I’m really hungry! Turn left at the next light. Small coffee, please.
Tl; dr You don’t have to get stuck on one particular pitch to have a great voice. Use a tuner to find your habitual speaking pitch. Discover your target pitch. Practice memorizing that pitch and how it feels in your voice, then implement it into things you say frequently every day. Keep these exercises handy because you’ll use them again as you develop other parts of your new voice patterns. One Weird Trick: Use small, discrete sounds like “mmhmm,” “umm,” “so...” or “yeah” to help you find your target pitch in conversation! Myth:
All you have to do to get the right resonance/timbre/voice quality is make your voice breathy or not-breathy. Fact: Gender perception as it relates to resonance has more nuance than breathy or not-breathy, although those are easily recognizable and maneuverable traits. Resonance can be light or dark, forward or deep, heady or chesty, and it can help you produce a rich, colorful sound. It will help you maintain your new voice patterns in a healthy, sustainable way; using the feelings of resonance will help keep you within your desired voice patterns. Useful info: Resonance is the amplification and coloring of the voice as it moves from the vocal folds through the vocal tract (your throat, mouth, and nose). When your vocal folds vibrate, the raw sound is not much more than a buzz. Imagine the sound of someone blowing into a trumpet mouthpiece. It isn’t very trumpet-like without the body of the instrument. The shape, length, and material of the piping colors the raw buzz into a recognizable sound that we hear as a trumpet. Similarly, when we change the shape, length, and suppleness of our vocal tract, the resulting sound changes as well. Your vocal tract consists of the pharynx (throat), tongue, soft and hard palate, lips, and nose. Because your vocal tract is inside your own head and you can’t see it, you will rely on the feelings of resonance to know how you are using your vocal tract to color the sound. When you are using your new voice patterns out in the world, you will likely not be able to give yourself a pitch (unless of course you have perfect pitch memory), but you can rely on the sensations or buzz of resonance to keep you on track. Feminine voices tend toward bright, forward resonance with short vocal tracts, and the buzz can usually be felt in the face or head. Masculine voices tend toward deep resonances with long vocal tracts, and the buzz is usually in the throat or chest. Slow and Steady:
Feminine voice: When you find the spot where the vibrations move out of your chest or throat and into your face or head, try to discover that pitch range. Remember not to push so far up that you go into falsetto or Minnie Mouse voice. Masculine voice: When you find the spot where the vibrations move out of your face or head and down into your chest, try to discover that pitch range. Remember to check in for any tension; don’t push your voice all the way to its bottom limit, but rather let it relax and allow more chest vibration. Return to One Weird Trick: Pitch and repeat your pitch exercises with this new sensation of resonance. Humming is a great way to feel the buzz of resonance, so use this to your advantage! Fast Track:
Tl;dr The sensations of resonance help you to sustain your new voice patterns healthily and reliably. Feminine voice resonance buzzes in the face or head; masculine voice resonance buzzes in the throat or chest. Use a hum to find and maintain the feeling of buzzing. One Weird Trick: Character voices are a great way to discover different types of resonance. Speak the phrase “Hello, how are you today?” in these different voices, and notice how it feels in your head/face/throat/chest, and what parts of your vocal tract change to make these silly sounds:
Myth:
Prosody means I have to use upspeak and go crazy with inflecting really high and really low. OR Prosody means I have to bark everything I say. Fact: Upspeak, although it is easily recognizable as an element of prosody, is never required. The goal for developing prosody is to ensure that your intent is communicated effectively through the use of melody or volume inflection, and rhythm. What is upspeak? Upspeak occurs when each phrase ends with a pitch glide up, as though it were a question. Upspeak sometimes carries the stigma that it sounds as though the speaker is apologizing for everything they say, and is therefore insecure. Despite the negative stigma, upspeak is a quickly recognizable feminine inflection pattern, and could be used to your advantage. You have the flexibility and autonomy to choose how much or how little upspeak to use in your daily speech, and it could be a fun thing to play around with! What is meant by “barking?” Barking is a way to describe a percussive way of speaking that uses volume for emphasis instead of melodic changes. It carries some negative stigma but is recognizable as a masculine voice pattern. You have the choice to utilize this style of prosody as much or as little as you want in order to reach your voice goals. Useful info: Prosody refers the patterns of rhythm, intonation, and emphasis in speech. In feminine voices, emphasis is usually communicated through melodic inflection and elongation of syllables. In masculine voices, emphasis usually comes through changes in volume and shortened syllables or words. Feminine: I love this place! The flowers are blooming, the bees are buzzing, it’s fabulous! Masculine: Dude. This is awesome. Check out that huge bee. Granted, in this example there is more than just prosody in play; word choice is another gender marker in speech and communication. You can probably hear in your mind, however, that the words “love,” “blooming,” and “buzzing” are elongated and “it’s FABulous” rises in pitch significantly to add emphasis to the feminine example. In the masculine example, you might hear that “AWEsome” has a louder volume to add emphasis and there is silence between the sentences, which are also much shorter and more percussive. In the next section, there is no slow or fast track. If you’re at this point in your voice training, you know that tweaking these nuanced elements takes practice. Communicating intent with “Hi, how are you?”
Playing with rhythm Using the sample sentences below, choose a word to emphasize by either elongating the word or adding a pause after the word. Repeat the sample sentences again, this time adding emphasis with either pitch or volume. Which feels more natural? Which conveys your intent?
A note about stereotypes and binary: The intention of these exercises is never to guide you toward a gender stereotype. As with everything in your voice training, follow your instincts and do what feels natural and authentic. The examples are presented in a binary format so that you can make decisions about where you’d like your voice and speech patterns to fall along the broad spectrum of gender expression. Play around with different ways of using prosody to find what fits best for you! Tl;dr Feminine prosody includes changes in melody and elongation of syllables or words to add emphasis within a sentence. Masculine prosody has less melodic inflection and uses volume and percussive rhythm to add emphasis. “Hi, how are you?” can convey a wide range of emotions or intentions, depending on how it is affected by different types of prosody. One Weird Trick Speak the phrase “My mother made lemon muffins” in a monotone voice with no rhythmic change. Repeat the same phrase but add emphasis with changes in pitch, volume, and rhythm to each word in succession. How does this change the meaning of the sentence? Where else do you think you use this style of prosody in everyday speech? my mother made lemon muffins MY mother made lemon muffins my MOTHER made lemon muffins my mother MADE lemon muffins my mother made LEMON muffins my mother made lemon MUFFINS? |
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AuthorHi! My name is Liz, and I'm a voice teacher and vocologist from Chicago. I have worked with many transgender and gender nonconforming clients, helping them develop speaking and singing voice patterns that align with their affirmed gender. I'm passionate about providing voice care for the t/gnc communities and in addition to seeing private clients, I love volunteering and doing outreach programs for LGBTQ medical and community centers and support groups. ArchivesCategories |