Exploring the Masculine Voice

As with all gender presentations, masculine voices are subjective. Finding a voice that fits the individual is a personalized and unique experience. If exploring your voice in music therapy- music, singing and processing your emotions may be an important element of the process. It is also essential to learn more about your voice and how it works.

Some hormones do affect the voice and how it shifts over time. Testosterone lowers the voice by thickening the vocal cords. When testosterone is started during teen years it also has a chance to lengthen the vocal cords. If testosterone is started later it will still thicken the chords but will not always lengthen them. This means that the voice will still naturally lower in pitch but may be less deep and it may be slightly higher. Every voice is different and genetics often play a role in how much the voice changes.

Some people find testosterone scary as they are worried about losing their singing voice or vocal expression. This fear can be mitigated by starting testosterone at lower doses and gradually increasing the dosage to create a slower transition in the voice. A gender affirming doctor can go over those changes and what different options may look like. Vocal practice can also maintain a large portion of a person's voice while they transition. Your voice will likely shift but that does not have to be a bad thing and it can be fun to explore new aspects of your voice.

Not everyone who identifies as masculine chooses to introduce testosterone to the body. For masculine people who do not use hormones speaking in the gender neutral range of 147-220 Hz and by using vocal patterns that are perceived as more masculine they can achieve a voice that better fits their identity. Using a music tuner app like soundcourset is one option for measuring the hz level.

Masculine voices are often perceived to have less pitch variance in speech. Excited masculine speech often gets louder as opposed to feminine speech which gets a wider bouncier range in pitch. Masculine voices are also perceived to have more deepness. 

Deepening the voice can be a helpful tool in helping people express their voice. Some vocal exercises can help with deepening the sound. Speaking or singing with a less breathy sound can be helpful. Using a taller mouth space while talking like the “ohhh” vowel shape is helpful in deepening the voice. Avoid a smiley forward voice and a voice that is breathy and lighter. 

Using yawns to find a deeper tone can be helpful. Practice yawning and lengthen the yawn to change the pitch sliding from low to high to low again. You can also try talking while yawning to get used to having more space.

Breath support is helpful in creating a deeper tone. Vocal exercises and body alignment can help with increasing the breath support. Generally breaths should be deeper and near the abdomen/rib cage. If the breath is moving the shoulders or causing strain on the voice it is too high. 

When trying new things with your voice notice if there is any tension or pain. A professional can help avoid causing damage to the vocal cords if you start to notice pain or if you need more support.

Your voice is yours. Explore different things and find what works for you. You do not have to be perfect or fit every stereotype as voices are all on a spectrum.

Recourses:

Mills, M., & Stoneham, G. (2017). The Voice Book for Trans and non-binary People: A practical guide to creating and sustaining authentic voice and Communication. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Soundcorset Tuner