Hiya, I hope everyone is having a comfy weekend (:
Today I’d love to read people’s perspective on their vocal training. I’m barely a day in, finding numerous exercises and opinions and coaches from various backgrounds. And of course practicing for myself.
My question right now is per the title, how important are the technical aspects of finding the right voice, versus simply practicing and re-training your vocal muscles? My femme voice is too breathy and it sounds forced and I have to stop myself elongating words to hold the higher pitch.
I’m wondering how you find the difference between actually doing something wrong (or falling in to beginner’s traps), and just needing to speak that way more frequently and for longer periods.
I’d really appreciate any tips, on this or in general, or even questions from other people! As I don’t see a vocal related thread posted here recently.
At the start, doing exercises to stretch your vocal chords and generally just practice is the most important thing. You can worry about fine detail later- a big part is training your muscle fibers to do what you want, and like any muscle, the more you use it, the stronger it gets. In this case strength won’t lead to power, but rather, control.
Pitch is the last thing to work on. Resonance is the most important aspect (if your goal is to pass). Intonation is very important as well, and there are certain ways of speaking that are associated with cis female voices, like upward inflection at the end of a sentence.
It takes time- with a good clinician in a well supported program, someone who is out and using their new voice, it may take as little as 6 months. Doing it alone via the internet, it will likely take longer (especially if you’re not out - practice is key!) so don’t get discouraged. Just practice, practice, practice!
The shower and the car (if you have one) are generally safe places to practice, and since we travel and bath everyday (ideally), it can be a good way to work in consistent practice.
Good luck! You got this!
Gosh yes, I’m having lots of problems with resonance, I can’t stop sounding hollow :(
I still can’t really tell if I’m doing something wrong or if I just need more practice! I guess I’ll just practice until the new year and then maybe look for a clinician!
Thank you very much, this was super helpful <3