Finding the Strength in Your Voice

Each voice is unique and personal in its own way. Often in voicework we focus on areas of the voice that we want to change. It’s easy to forget the parts of the voice that feel comfortable and good. Learning to express your gender in a way that feels good also requires what is working well in your voice. Notice which of these qualities are easier or come more naturally to you and go back to those if working on difficult voice qualities are becoming frustrating. In music therapy and voicework your strengths are just as important as your weaknesses.

Breath support- Is it easy for you to breathe deeply? This can be a strength that will carry your voice to be able to try out many different aspects of your voice. Breathing deeply allows for grounding the body and voice as well as more control on the loudness and tone quality.

Tone quality- Is there an airiness or thickness to your voice that you enjoy. Maybe it’s a mix of both or perhaps there is another quality to your voice that you enjoy. Keep doing the things in your speech that you find enjoyable while working on other aspects of your voice. Sometimes it can be a way of articulating your words or the shape of your sentences.

Creativity- Is there something different about your voice that you like? Your voice is unique to you so whether its always perceived as the gender you identify with how you feel about the aspects of your voice is more important. There may be settings where safety requires passing more than others but even people who identify with the gender they were assigned at birth have parts of their voice that don’t always fit stereotypes. You may notice that your mood or the setting you are in effect different qualities of your voice. That is normal and sometimes it is helpful to notice where your voice is strongest and see if there are aspects that can be applied to other settings and what things need to shift.

Softness or strength- Is there a quality that feels soft or strong? What kinds of words describe your speech. Do you like having a certain quality to it? What about your voice makes you feel grounded? What about powerful or silly?

Relaxing- What parts of your body are naturally relaxed while speaking or singing? What parts of your body are less so? Are there ways you can relax the more tense areas? Is there anything you notice about the areas that are more relaxed?

Find what you are good at and use that to help support the areas of your voice that feel less like you. You will likely fit into many different gender stereotypes and that is ok. You do not have to change something to fit your gender that doesn’t feel bad. Sometimes our strengths shift and change as well as what feels comfortable in speech. That is part of living and everyone has gradual shifts in their voice overtime. Allowing your strengths to carry you and shifting slowly but consistently over time is often the most effective way to create a sustainable gender presentation.