How to Get a Higher Pitched Voice
So you’re ready to feminize your voice! Now, where to begin??
When most people think of a more feminine voice, they think of higher pitch. Now, pitch is certainly not the only factor when it comes to the gender perception of the voice, but it does play a role.
There’s actually quite a bit of pitch overlap in the voices of AMAB and AFAB people, so resonance, vocal weight, and inflection all play important parts in the gender perception of the voice.
BUT! Let’s talk about pitch!
When you start out, it’s tempting to try to jump up to the highest pitch range you can. But the voice is a muscle and without proper endurance training, it can get tired quickly.
If you start lifting weights at the gym, you’re not going to start with 100 pounds. You’re going to start with lower weights that are manageable for you and slowly challenge yourself by adding weight little by little. That way your muscles build strength.
We want to approach voice training the same way. We want to gradually move the pitch up higher.
Let’s gradually raise your pitch!
First, find your habitual speaking range, or where you typically speak. You can use Voice Tools or another pitch app to find this. When you speak into the pitch app, it will show you your pitch in musical note names or hertz. Write this down!
Next, find a comfortable pitch a tone or two higher than where your habitual speaking range is. So, if you found that you were speaking around a C3, you could try going up to a D3 or an E3.
Use this E3 (or whatever note you choose) as your target pitch. Try humming that pitch consistently. Check in with your pitch app to make sure you’re matching the pitch.
Then hum the note and sing the number 1 monotone on that pitch for as long as you can. Go all the way up to 10, pausing to take a breath, and hum the note before each new number.
Once you feel comfortable at this pitch, try a new target pitch a tone or two higher than where you were practicing!