As a transmasculine voice coach who’s worked with hundreds of singers on testosterone, I am frequently asked about strategies for strengthening the lower voice.

It’s not surprising that so many people on T need help with this! Testosterone causes vocal cords to thicken, resulting in a drop in overall pitch range. Still, many people have difficulty accessing their lowest ranges after their voice has dropped, or struggle to find resonance and projection in their new low notes.

Many people who use testosterone notice that the muscles in and around their throat get very tight while singing, especially in higher ranges. Specialized exercises for releasing muscle tension in the lower voice can lead to increased freedom and healthier vocal functioning throughout the entire vocal range, including middle and higher ranges.

Some examples of these specialized exercises are included below, but first let’s consider a few helpful strategies for freeing and strengthening the lower voice.

Before we start exercising the lower voice, we may benefit from a quick warm-up to free the larynx and make sure we’re able to reach our lowest ranges.

Here’s a quick 3-part exercise to help improve access to lower ranges.

Step 1: Let’s start with an exercise that will loosen up the larynx and increase its freedom of movement. This exercise involves panting like a dog while holding the larynx in different positions.

First, imagine a very small dog, like a chihuahua or shih tzu. Make a sound like a small dog panting, for example:

Next, imagine a very big dog, like a Great Dane or a mastiff. Make a sound like a big dog panting, for example:

Finally, imagine a medium-sized dog, and make a sound like a medium dog panting, for example:

Notice how your larynx moves into different positions to make these different panting sounds. For the small dog, we lift the larynx into a high position in the neck. For the big dog, we drop the larynx into a low position in the neck. For the medium-sized dog, we release the larynx into a relatively neutral position somewhere in the middle.

Repeat this exercise as many times as you like to explore your larynx’s range of movement. (Be gentle, and avoid using force!) Notice the change in sound between the small dog panting and the big dog panting. Are these different larynx positions producing different panting sounds, as in the recordings above?

If you have moderate to severe muscle tension around your larynx and/or if you chronically hold your larynx in a high position in your neck, your big dog pant may sound pretty similar to your small dog pant, and the larynx may feel difficult to move. Pay attention to any stiffness around the larynx, and investigate whether your larynx is able to drop for the big dog sound. Over time, this can improve with more practice.

For those who wish to masculinize their voices or develop a lower-pitched speaking voice, it may be helpful to explore speaking with a low larynx position.

Step 2: Now, let’s begin warming up the lower voice with a siren exercise. Start in your chest voice (or mixed chest voice) on an “ah” vowel, and slide all the way down until you reach vocal fry, for example:

As you slide down in pitch, you may feel your larynx moving in the front of your neck. This may feel as though your larynx is dropping, or releasing, or rotating. Or, you may feel muscles around your throat or larynx getting tighter, which may prevent the larynx from moving freely.

Try this siren multiple times while inviting your larynx to drop or rotate without forcefully pushing it down. If you are struggling to find this natural movement of the larynx, try using less exhaled breath as you approach the bottom of your range. Reducing the airflow and allowing the sound to get quieter may help you find your lowest notes.

If you’re still struggling to release the larynx on this low siren, repeat Step 1, and then try Step 2 again.

Optional: While you siren, gently place your fingertips on the front of your neck, and see if you can feel your larynx moving under your fingertips. Or, try this siren in front of a mirror — can you see your larynx moving?

Optional: Take a moment to try relaxing your tongue. Notice how, when the tongue is relaxed, it rests in a forward position in the mouth and feels soft in the throat. From there, repeat Step 2 and observe whether the tongue seems to want to tense up and/or pull backwards into the mouth as you slide down in pitch.

If so, try this low siren again with your tongue gently hanging out of your mouth. Practice sliding down while keeping the tongue soft, and observe whether your throat feels more open for resonance with the tongue out of the way. Now, return your tongue to a resting position inside the mouth, and try the siren again while encouraging your tongue to stay soft and neutral.

Step 3: To explore the lower range in more detail, repeat this siren again in slow motion, for example:

Notice all of the subtle changes in tone color that occur as you slide down in pitch, and all of the physical sensations that accompany these changes. On this slow motion siren, you may feel multiple register transitions or adjustments as you slide all the way down. You may hear a gradient of changing tone colors until you finally release completely into vocal fry.

How does your larynx move on this slow motion siren? Is this movement any easier when you go more slowly? Is this a smooth and fluid movement, or something more complicated? How many different tone colors can you find on the way down? Are there some tones that seem to blend qualities of both chest voice and vocal fry registers, as in the recording above?

Repeat Step 3 as many times as you like to continue this exploration of sounds and sensations.

The vocal exercises below can help relax your lower voice, improve access to low notes, increase resonance and projection, and strengthen lower ranges over time.

If you don’t normally spend very much time exercising your lower voice, this part of your range may feel under-developed, difficult to access, or even a little confusing!

To improve access to our lowest notes, we need to start by relaxing our vocal anatomy and finding a natural and easy resonance in the lower voice. From there, we can build strength by fine-tuning the airflow, making small adjustments to improve projection, and continuing to exercise this range over time.

These exercises are written out for music readers, and are also recorded in the corresponding audio files for those who learn by ear. You can either play these audio files and sing the exercises along with me, or sing these exercises on your own, or with a voice teacher.

If you continue these exercises all the way down to the bottom of your range, the sound will eventually start to get quieter, and your lowest notes will drop into vocal fry. You can safely continue the exercises into your vocal fry register as long as you do this gently, without pushing.

Exercise 1: Relaxing vocal anatomy to find an easy resonance in the lower voice

Listen to the audio clips to follow along with me, or transpose this exercise into another range if needed.

Part 1: Starting in chest voice (or mixed chest voice), sing a 5-note descending scale (54321) with the word “yum” on each note. Let the vowel be quick enough that you can spend a little extra time sustaining the “mm” sound each time you sing the word “yum.” Notice whether the “mm” sound creates a buzzy sensation in your lips. This buzzy sensation is caused by vocal resonance.

Repeat this exercise with the syllable “blub” (as in the word “blubber”). Let your mouth, jaw, and tongue stay loose on the “blub” sound to release any excess tension in these muscles, or in your face.

Medium-high:

Medium-low:

Part 2: Starting in chest voice (or mixed chest voice), hum a 53421 pattern on an “mm” sound. Notice whether you can feel a buzzy sensation in your lips while you hum.

Repeat this exercise on the syllables “mi may ma mo mu,” lingering slightly on the “mm” sound for each syllable. Notice whether the buzzy sensation in the front of your mouth on the sustained “mm” helps you find a similar resonance in the subsequent vowel sounds.

Medium-high:

Medium-low:

Exercise 2: Descending slides for breath training and finding projection

Listen to the audio clips to follow along with me, or transpose this exercise into another range if needed.

Starting in chest voice (or a mixed chest voice), slide down from 5 to 1 on the word “hey.” This can be an exaggerated slide, as though you are trying to hit all the notes between the starting and ending notes.

Use these slides to fine-tune your airflow, experimenting with using different amounts of air until you find what seems like the right amount for each part of your range. For example, in some parts of your chest voice range, a robust exhale may work best for projection. However, as you slide lower, singing with too much exhaled breath may prevent the larynx from reaching your lowest notes.

Repeat this exercise on the word “may.” Find a buzzy resonance on the “mm” sound, then try to keep some buzzy resonance in the front of your mouth (or possibly projecting out in front of your mouth) when you sing the “ay” vowel.

Medium-high:

Medium-low:

Optional: As you slide down on the sustained vowels in the words “hey” and “may,” slightly engage the muscles above your upper lip that might pull your lip up when you bite into an apple, or when you make an expression of disgust. One of my former voice teachers used to put it this way: “Show me your front teeth on those low notes!”

When singing or speaking in the lower voice, this small movement may help draw the sound forward (this is sometimes referred to as “forward focus”), creating more projection at any volume.

Exercise 3: Improving vocal cord closure in chest voice by ascending from vocal fry

Listen to the audio clips to follow along with me, or transpose this exercise into another range if needed.

This is a tricky exercise! Give yourself some time to get the hang of it through trial and error if needed. Starting in vocal fry, sing a 3-note ascending and descending scale (12321) on “mm.” As you repeat this exercise, moving the key up by half steps with each repetition, at some point you may notice yourself transitioning out of vocal fry and into chest voice.

Try to keep your vocal anatomy relaxed, and sing as gently as possible — this may result in a very quiet sound, but we don’t need to worry about volume for this particular exercise.

After humming through the exercise on “mm,” repeat it on a “ga” sound. Notice how the back of the tongue releases on each “g” consonant.

Medium-low:

Medium-high:

Are we trying to learn how to sing in vocal fry? No, this exercise isn’t really about vocal fry — our real goal is strengthening the low chest voice, and we are using vocal fry as a tool to accomplish certain voice training objectives (for example, releasing muscle tension around the larynx and improving vocal fold closure during phonation in chest voice).

Is vocal fry register something we can even use for singing? With the assistance of technology like microphones and recording equipment, we can learn to project in vocal fry by stretching or engaging certain muscles in the face, mouth, throat, or pharynx and then sending the sound directly into a microphone with our exhaled breath.

This makes singing in vocal fry technically possible, although mostly only when performing with a microphone or within the specialized environment of a recording studio. Vocal fry has very limited potential for natural projection beyond a close distance, and this makes it less practical for many kinds of live performances.

Exercise 4: Connecting lower ranges to the middle voice through octave slides

Listen to the audio clips to follow along with me, or transpose this exercise into another range if needed.

Starting in your low chest voice (or in vocal fry), slide up one octave and then slide back down (181) on an “oh” sound. This can be an exaggerated slide, as though you are trying to hit all the notes between the lowest and highest notes.

Think about a round shape in the back of your mouth and/or in your pharynx contributing to forming the “oh” sound. Do you feel yourself moving into a higher (mixed chest voice) register for the higher notes in this sequence?

Notice how your resonance moves through your body as you slide up and down. Where do you feel buzzy resonance on the lowest notes? Where do you feel buzzy resonance on the highest notes? How does it feel when the resonance is actively moving through your body?

If you like, you can slow down these slides to explore the transition from low to middle ranges in more detail (similar to the “slow motion siren” above).

Repeat this exercise on an “ah” vowel while keeping some of the same feeling of roundness in the back of the mouth that you observed on the “oh” sound.

Medium-low:

Medium-high:

Exercise 5 (Optional): Exercise the lower voice frequently to build strength over time

Spend about 10-15 minutes (or more, if you’re so inclined) exercising your lower voice by singing a song(s) that spends a lot of time in that range. You can either sing a song(s) off the top of your head, a cappella, or sing along with a recording.

Here is a short list of song suggestions, with links to YouTube videos of each song listed. These are categorized by voice type, since people with different voice types will find their “lower voice” in different pitch ranges:

• High voice types (soprano, mezzo-soprano) — Megan Hilty sings Walkin’ After Midnight

• Medium-high voice types (alto, contralto) — Nina Simone sings Feeling Good

• Medium-high voice types (tenor, bari-tenor) — Jeremy Jordan sings Santa Fe

• Medium-low voice types (baritone, bass-baritone) — Nat King Cole sings Autumn Leaves

• Low voice types (bass-baritone, bass) — Johnny Cash sings Wayfaring Stranger

• Very low voice types (low bass, “bass 2”) — Paul Robeson sings Shenandoah

If you prefer to exercise your lower voice by speaking instead of singing, you can try reading out loud, talking to yourself, or having a conversation with someone while keeping your voice mostly within that range. Continue to check in with your body sensations, keeping an eye out for any muscle tension or muscle over-engagement, and notice whether you can maintain a low or neutral larynx position while speaking.

Step 6 (Optional): Let us know in the comments how these exercises went for you, and what you learned in the process!

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Peter Fullerton (he, him) is a transmasculine singer, voice coach, and trans voice specialist. He offers voice training and consulting services in Portland, Oregon and over Zoom. peterfullerton.com

For more information and advice about singing in the lower voice, including more vocal exercises, check out these resources:

• How to sing really low from Madeline Harvey (YouTube video)

• How To Sing Low Notes, How To Sing Chest Voice, and What’s The Vocal Fry from Justin Stoney at New York Vocal Coaching (YouTube videos)

For a notable example of projection and expressivity while speaking in the lower voice, check out Patrick Stewart in Captain Picard’s best inspirational speeches (YouTube video)

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As a transmasculine voice coach who’s worked with hundreds of trans and nonbinary singers, I am often asked if it’s possible to maintain a professional singing career while using testosterone for hormone replacement therapy. This question comes up because testosterone causes significant changes to the voice, which may present challenges to singers.

The answer is demonstrably YES! There are many professional singers who use testosterone, as well as professional vocal artists and performers in a range of other careers: recording artists, rappers, spoken word performers, actors, comedians, voice actors, and more.

Below, you will find two lists of professional vocalists who have maintained their careers after voice change with testosterone: a list of singers and recording artists, and a list of actors and other vocalists. Click on any artist’s name to watch a YouTube video featuring that artist!

Singers, aspiring singers, actors, and other vocal artists who use testosterone can look to these professional vocalists as evidence that these types of careers are indeed possible after voice change with testosterone!

Professional singers and recording artists who experienced voice change from testosterone

• 2AM Ricky, multidisciplinary artist, songwriter

• Bells Larsen, singer-songwriter

• Dylan and the Moon (Dylan Holloway), singer-songwriter

• Gio Bravo, singer-songwriter

• Jake Zyrus, recording artist, pop star, singer-songwriter, actor

• Kae Tempest, recording artist, spoken word performer, poet

• Lucas Silveira, singer-songwriter, frontman of The Cliks

• Mal Blum, singer-songwriter

• Miiko Toiviainen, singing actor

• Nate Ethan, rapper

• SY (Xavian Wu), singer-songwriter

• Teiya Kasahara, opera singer, interdisciplinary artist

Professional actors and other vocalists who experienced voice change from testosterone

• Brian Michael Smith, actor, speaker

• Elliot Fletcher, actor

• Elliot Page, actor

• Emmett Preciado, actor, voice actor, singer-songwriter

• Ian Alexander, actor

• James Tom, comedian, actor

• Jordan Gonzalez, actor

• Leo Sheng, actor

• Marquise Vilsón, actor, ballroom community member

• Michael D. Cohen, actor

• Misia Butler, actor

• Nico Carney, comedian, actor

• River Butcher, comedian

• Samy Nour Younes, actor, speaker

• Scott Turner Schofield, actor, speaker

• Zach Barack, actor, voice actor

• Zack Binder, ventriloquist, comedian

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Peter Fullerton (he, him) is a transmasculine singer, voice coach, and trans voice specialist. He offers voice training and consulting services in Portland, Oregon and over Zoom. peterfullerton.com

Although Peter rarely performs live, he trained his voice to a professional level after starting testosterone in 2009. To hear Peter sing, click here for a cappella, or click here for musical theater (YouTube videos)

For a peer-reviewed academic case study of a professional singer who maintained his career while transitioning with testosterone, check out the following article:

• Constansis, A. N., & Foteinou, A. (2017). Case study of a performance-active changing trans* male singing voice. Voice and Speech Review, 11(2), 154–175. https://doi.org/10.1080/23268263.2017.1383555

The following professional singers have appeared in documentaries that depict their voices changing from testosterone:

• Bells Larsen, singer-songwriter, in Blurring Time (the documentary) (YouTube video)

• Dylan Holloway, singer-songwriter, in Tomorrow’s Too Late — click here for a trailer (YouTube video)

• Teiya Kasahara, opera singer, in THIS IS MY VOICE (YouTube playlist)

Click here to watch a Forbes Asia interview with international recording artist Jake Zyrus about his experiences since coming out as a transgender man (YouTube video)

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As a transmasculine voice coach who’s worked with hundreds of singers on testosterone, I frequently find myself recommending “mix voice” as a solution to several common singing problems:

• Vocal range seems extremely limited

• High notes in chest voice feel tight, strained, pushed, or painful

• Voice keeps “cracking” during singing

• Voice has a severe “break” between chest voice and head voice registers

• Middle range feels confusing, or even chaotic

These singing issues are common after voice change from testosterone therapy, and equally common in teenage cis boys after their voices change in puberty.

Although they sound like different problems, these issues can all result from a single cause: through the voice change process, vocal registers may become disconnected. If so, they can be reintegrated and rebalanced through the use of mix voice.

Mix voice is a vocal register which blends acoustic qualities of chest voice and head voice. It functions through a complex coordination of mechanical actions associated with both registers.

For these reasons, mix voice is a helpful tool for smoothing out the break in the voice, solving problems in the middle range and upper passage, and transitioning seamlessly between low and high ranges.

Without mix, the voice may appear divided into two distinct voices: a strong chest voice sound in the lower half of the range, and a light head voice sound (sometimes called “falsetto”) in the upper half of the range.

Mix voice connects these two otherwise disparate voices, blending qualities of strength and lightness together to cultivate a more gradual transition when moving between chest and head registers.

In this way, mix voice smooths the entire range and cultivates a perception of one unified voice, capable of producing a diverse range of sounds and colors while still maintaining a certain consistency of tone.

Without mix, high notes in chest voice may feel tight, pushed, unstable, pitchy, painful, or prone to cracking.

If we can learn to sing those same notes in a “mixed” chest voice register, they suddenly become much easier to sing, while still essentially sounding like chest voice, or sounding like a natural extension to the chest voice register.

Over time, we can train mix voice to stretch into higher ranges, giving us access to more high notes without necessarily having to sing them in head voice.

We can also train the mixed chest voice to blend seamlessly into a mixed head voice, eliminating the break altogether, and ultimately developing an expanded color palette of various mixed sounds and multiple mix registers.

Without mix voice, singing may be uneven, inconsistent, confusing, or even somewhat chaotic.

In contemporary nonclassical music, most of our favorite singers are using mix voice most of the time. If we sing along with these singers’ recordings, or attempt to sing our favorite songs, we may find ourselves a bit lost and confused if we don’t have reliable access to mix voice!

Lacking access to mix voice can easily result in the following common singing mistakes:

• Bringing the chest voice too high, so that high notes feel pushed or strained (this is sometimes referred to as “pulling chest voice,” having too much “vocal weight,” or singing with a sound that’s “too heavy”)

• Voice tires easily because chest voice singing is too “pressed” or too loud

• Uncontrollable voice cracks or unwanted flips into head voice

• Singing is uneven, with different pitch ranges unintentionally coming out at different volumes

• Singer doesn’t understand why some parts of the song feel easy, and other parts of the song feel harder, or even impossible

Opera singers trained within most styles of Western classical voice pedagogy often develop registration patterns based on a culturally constructed gender binary: so-called “female voice types” (sopranos, mezzo-sopranos, and contraltos) are trained to exclusively use head voice for their middle and high ranges, while so-called “male voice types” (tenors, baritones, and basses) are trained to mainly use mixed chest voice in their middle and high ranges.

For this reason, opera singers who use testosterone therapy for gender transition may benefit from a process of retraining their vocal registration — if they transition to a traditionally “male” voice type, they may need a little time to get used to singing middle and higher ranges in mixed chest voice registers.

The vocal exercises below are well suited for this voice retraining process, for singers (and aspiring singers!) of any genre or style.

How do I find my mix voice?

Even if you are new to the concept of “mix voice,” you may already be using this vocal register! In fact, many people use mix voice every day in their casual speech patterns, or sing in mix voice even if they don’t know that’s what they’re doing.

Still, it can be hard to tell when you’re using mix voice. It may be tricky to hear or feel the difference between chest voice and mix voice, since these registers have overlapping ranges and may sound and feel pretty similar.

If you’re ever not sure which register you’re in, remember that mix voice is lighter than the heavy chest voice — leaning into lighter sounds and a feeling of lightness may help nudge you into mix.

Here’s a quick exercise to help you find your mix voice.

Step 1: Let’s start by identifying chest voice and head voice registers, and observing the “break” or flip that occurs when moving from one to the other. Starting on a low note in your chest voice, near the bottom of your range, slide up in pitch on a sustained “oh” vowel, going as high as you can without straining or pushing. Did you feel yourself cross over into head voice somewhere along that slide?

Reverse this slide by starting on a high note in your head voice, near the top of your range, and sliding all the way down on the sustained “oh” sound until you reach the bottom. Did you feel yourself drop back down into chest voice at some point during that slide?

This type of sliding exercise is called a “siren,” or “sirening.” Try sirening up and down a few more times on vowel sounds like “oh,” “oo,” and “ah.” Continue to observe the break as you slide through it, and notice any changes in tone color that occur right before you reach the break (in both directions).

Step 2: We’ll use a more targeted siren to find your mix voice. First, start in your chest voice on an “oh” vowel, and slide very slowly up towards your break. Right before you reach the break, you are likely to find yourself in a mixed chest voice register. This is a mix register that blends qualities of both head and chest voices, but is technically in a chest voice dominant (“M1”) register.

Now, start in your head voice on the “oh” sound, and slide very slowly down towards your break. Try to pull your head voice down as low as you can. Right before you reach the break, you are likely to find yourself in a mixed head voice register. This is a mix register that blends qualities of both head and chest voices, but is technically in a head voice dominant (“M2”) register.

Repeat Step 2 as many times as you like, using vowels such as “oh,” “oo,” “ah,” etc. Notice the many tones and colors of mix voice that can be found right around the break, on either side.

Optional: Using slow sirens, keep crossing through the break while trying to find a mix voice sound that is almost perfectly blended (i.e. a sound that is 50% chest voice and 50% head voice, or as close to this ratio as possible). How does it feel to vocalize while balancing right on your break? What does it sound like? Is this a register you’ve ever used before, or something new?

The vocal exercises below can help develop your mix voice, strengthen mix registers, and expand mix range over time.

If you don’t have much experience with mix voice, this register may feel under-developed, difficult to access, or somewhat out of your control. Be prepared to give yourself lots of pep talks, and hang in there — this really does get better with practice!

These exercises are written out for music readers, and are also recorded in the corresponding audio files for those who learn by ear. You can either play these audio files and sing the exercises along with me, or sing these exercises on your own, or with a voice teacher.

Exercise 1: Dropping into mix voice on descending arpeggios

Listen to the audio clips to follow along with me, or transpose this exercise into another range if needed.

Part 1: Starting in head voice, slide down on an 8531 pattern, dropping into mixed chest voice somewhere during the slide (so that the 8 is always in head voice, and the 1 is always in mixed chest voice). Repeat this exercise three times: first on an “ng” sound, as in the word “sing”; then on a “ng” that opens to an “ah” for the final note in each slide; then finally on a “zoo” sound.

Part 2: Slide down the octave (81), starting in head voice on an “oo” vowel and dropping into mixed chest voice, landing on an “ah” vowel. Take a breath, and then sing a 3-note scale (12321) in mixed chest voice on “ah.” This audio file continues the exercise into a medium-high range — feel free to stop singing if the 3-note scale gets too high for your mixed chest voice.

Exercise 2: Finding mix voice with “ng,” “nga,” and “go”

Listen to the audio clips to follow along with me, or transpose this exercise into another range if needed.

Part 1: Starting in your mix voice, sustain an “ng” sound on the 5 of a 5-note descending scale; open to an “ah” vowel (“nga”); and hold this note for a moment on “ah” before sliding quickly down to 1. Try to keep these lower notes in mix if you can, or if not, notice where they drop down into a “heavier” chest voice register.

Medium-low:

Medium-high:

Part 2: Sing a legato 13531 arpeggio on “ng,” with the final 1 note overlapping with a staccato 13531 pattern on “go” (altogether, the sequence is 135313531). Try to sing this exercise in your mixed chest voice, bringing this register as high as you can without pushing (imagine that you’re floating up to these notes, rather than pulling your voice up to them). As you take this exercise into your higher ranges, you might eventually notice the highest notes start to flip up into a mixed head voice.

Medium-low:

Medium-high:

Exercise 3: Coordinating breath, onsets, and registration

Listen to the audio clips to follow along with me, or transpose this exercise into another range if needed.

Part 1: Starting in your mixed chest voice, sing a 58531 pattern on a staccato “vo” sound. Aim to keep the highest notes of this exercise in a mixed chest voice, but let them flip up into a mixed head voice if necessary to avoid straining. Then, repeat this exercise on a staccato “ga” sound.

Optional: Repeat this exercise without the consonants, singing on any open vowel, such as “ah” or “ou” (as in “bought”).

Medium-low:

Medium-high:

Part 2: Starting in your mixed chest voice, sing a 5-note ascending and descending scale (123454321) on a staccato “ah” sound. Aim to keep the highest notes of this exercise in a mixed chest voice, but let them flip up into a mixed head voice if necessary.

Medium-low:

Medium-high:

Let us know in the comments how these exercises went for you, and what you learned in the process!

Leave a comment

Peter Fullerton (he, him) is a transmasculine singer, voice coach, and trans voice specialist. He offers voice training and consulting services in Portland, Oregon and over Zoom. peterfullerton.com

To hear Peter sing in mix voice, click here for a short clip (YouTube video)

For more information and advice about mix voice, including more vocal exercises, check out these resources:

• Find Your Mix Voice Part 1 and Find Your Mix Voice Part 2 from Justin Stoney at New York Vocal Coaching (YouTube videos)

• Best passaggio help for TBB voices from David J. Baldwin (Instagram reel)

• Male Voice Protection by David Jones (article) describes a Western classical approach to singing in the middle and upper ranges — this article uses a different set of terms, referring to mix voice register as “head voice” and referring to head voice register as “falsetto.” (For example: “Getting into head voice early enough in the scale allows the singer to release in the upper passaggio in such a way as to create a perfect blending of the registers” advocates for using the same register that I’ve been calling “mix voice” in the middle range)

In the article linked above, Jones praises notable opera tenor Jussi Björling for his balanced singing and blended upper registers. Click here for a short clip (YouTube video)

For a nonclassical example of the full range, power, and versatility of mix voice, check out this clip of Cynthia Erivo performing live on Broadway (YouTube video)

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As a transmasculine voice coach who’s worked with hundreds of people on testosterone, I am frequently asked how to keep the voice healthy on HRT! I have lots of advice to share on this topic, but it’s helpful to start with a deeper understanding of why and how testosterone therapy may impact the vocal health of those who take it.

Testosterone therapy can impact vocal health in three major ways:

• During the period of transition, vocal cords may become inflamed and swollen. This makes the voice more vulnerable to fatigue or misuse.

• After voice drops occur, registration issues (problems with “vocal registers”) can put unnecessary strain on the voice.

• During and after voice change, people on testosterone often experience significant muscle tension while speaking or singing.

Let’s unpack these points, starting with vocal cord inflammation during transition.

Hormonal fluctuations in the body may cause a short-term reaction of water retention, swelling, and inflammation in the vocal cords and larynx.

We might refer to these as “laryngitis symptoms,” since laryngitis is defined by inflammation and swelling in the larynx and vocal cords.

Many people experience laryngitis symptoms while transitioning with testosterone therapy. Importantly, these symptoms are not permanent! They are caused by changes in hormone levels, so they resolve over time as hormone levels stabilize.

There’s a lot of variation in how people experience these laryngitis symptoms. Typically, symptoms do not last for the entire period of transition — instead, there may be occasional flare-ups of symptoms during transition, which might resolve within a couple of days or within a couple of weeks. In some cases, symptoms may last for up to 2-3 months at a time, although this is less common.

If the testosterone dosage is fairly high, it’s possible that laryngitis symptoms may become severe. On a relatively lower dose, most people only experience moderate or mild symptoms, and some people experience no symptoms at all.

• Mild laryngitis symptoms may cause the voice to feel slightly “off,” similar to what happens when you’re starting to come down with a cold. High notes may feel tight or unstable. The “break” in the voice may seem more pronounced, and the notes right around the break might feel unpredictable or clumsy.

• Moderate laryngitis symptoms may cause more pronounced vocal instability and clumsiness. This may include difficulty with register coordination, causing more frequent voice cracks. Vocal tone may be darker, thicker, or less resonant. Sometimes, vocal cord inflammation slightly lowers vocal pitch, similar to what happens when vocal cords get irritated from a bad cold. The voice may feel less powerful, less able to project, and more easily fatigued. Vocal range may appear to shrink, with higher ranges becoming temporarily inaccessible.

• Severe laryngitis symptoms may cause the voice to feel even more clumsy and unmanageable. Vocal range may appear extremely limited, and the head voice register (sometimes called the “falsetto”) may become completely inaccessible. With severe vocal cord swelling, it may be impossible to produce a clear tone, and the voice may sound husky, breathy, or hoarse. In this condition, vocal stamina is shockingly low, and the voice fatigues very easily.

To maintain vocal health through transition, it’s important to know how to react — and how NOT to react — to laryngitis symptoms:

Fortunately, testosterone-related laryngitis symptoms really do resolve over time. Testosterone only causes laryngitis symptoms during the period of transition, so you won’t be stuck with laryngitis forever.

(For those who use testosterone therapy intermittently or inconsistently, laryngitis symptoms may reappear anytime testosterone is restarted after taking a break.)

When the period of transition reaches its natural conclusion — or if you stop using testosterone altogether — these short-term laryngitis symptoms will completely go away. At that point, other unrelated vocal challenges may emerge. This brings us back to the other two major ways that testosterone can impact vocal health.

To protect your voice after starting testosterone therapy, you may need to adjust vocal registration after voice drops and manage muscle tension during and after transition.

Testosterone therapy, when used consistently over time, causes vocal cords to grow thicker. The result of abruptly thickening vocal cords is that the voice “drops,” which is a shorthand way of saying that the overall vocal range drops into a lower pitch range. Unlike the laryngitis symptoms discussed above, voice drops are permanent changes to the voice.

Voice drops occur very quickly — often within less than a week, and sometimes within just a few days. This makes it difficult to observe the voice dropping in real time, as it’s actually happening. By the time we notice a voice drop, it may already be over.

Voice change via testosterone therapy is a lengthy process that typically includes three separate voice drops. In a faster transition, these voice drops may occur very close together, making it harder to see them as separate events. In a slower transition, there may be long periods of vocal stability — periods of time where the voice is not changing — lasting for months, or even years, in between voice drops.

When voice drops occur, they cause new low notes to emerge, and vocal registers and passages also drop lower in pitch. This is profoundly disorienting for many singers, who may feel misled by muscle memory of where notes used to be before their voices changed!

A “vocal register” is a range of notes where the sound is produced by a specific mechanical action. For example, the mechanics of “chest voice” are slightly different than the mechanics of “mix voice” or “head voice.”

To preserve vocal health, singers need to use appropriately supportive vocal registers for each pitch. Many songs require us to use more than one register to navigate the melody, so we need to be able to move smoothly (and often instantaneously) from one register to another.

When talking about vocal registers, we might also use the term “passages” to refer to transitions between registers. Or, we might identify “passages” between different parts of the vocal range (for instance, between the “lower voice” and “middle voice,” or between the “middle voice” and “upper voice”).

Unfortunately, if we do not complete this (re)training process, we may be prone to straining our voices by trying to do certain things in the “wrong” register. Or, we may occasionally fumble a necessary register transition, causing us to accidentally do something harsh on our voices.

This register disorientation, along with general confusion about how to use our newly changed voices, may contribute to significant muscle tension and muscle over-engagement while speaking or singing.

Here are a few common examples of how these issues can manifest:

• Bringing chest voice too high instead of transitioning into mix voice when appropriate – high notes feel “pushed” or strained

• Getting “stuck” in mix voice and having difficulty finding chest voice – feels like “my voice never dropped” because lowest notes are inaccessible

• Using a too-high register position when speaking – voice feels tight, voice sounds high

• Lifting the larynx very high in the neck – muscles feel tense, voice sounds high or overly nasal

• Over-engaging the tongue muscle and/or the jaw muscles when singing or speaking – muscles work harder than necessary, singing and speaking feel effortful, voice fatigues easily, voice sounds quiet

• Clenching the swallowing muscles and/or other muscles around the throat and larynx – voice sounds overly nasal

• Shoving too much breath through the larynx while singing or speaking – voice feels “forced”

• Vocal cords pull apart while singing or speaking due to severe muscle tension around the larynx — voice hurts, voice often feels tired, voice sounds breathy, hoarse, or raspy — this is actually a description of a common voice disorder called Muscle Tension Dysphonia (I’ll give a bit more info on this below)

All of the issues on this list are common among people who use testosterone. These issues often improve through voice training that includes therapeutic vocal exercises, such as SOVT exercises. These are sort of like “physical therapy” exercises for the voice, designed to gently teach the voice to function in a healthier and more sustainable way.

You can learn to do SOVT exercises on your own, or work through these issues with a voice teacher or voice coach. Or, you can get help for these issues from medical providers like speech therapists, voice therapists, voice pathologists, or laryngologists (these medical services are often covered by insurance).

Nonmedical bodywork practices may also help with these vocal issues, including Alexander Technique, Body Mapping, or Feldenkrais’s Awareness Through Movement exercises.

This article began by naming three major challenges to vocal health during and after transition with testosterone. Luckily, SOVT exercises can help with all three of these challenges!

SOVT exercises are an invaluable tool for supporting vocal health while using testosterone.

“SOVT exercises” stands for Semi-Occluded Vocal Tract exercises. The term “vocal tract” refers to all of the resonating space above the vocal cords (including the throat, mouth, and sinus cavities) which helps shape the sounds and colors of your voice. The term “semi-occluded” means partially closed.

In other words, Semi-Occluded Vocal Tract exercises involve making sounds with our voices while the vocal tract is partly closed.

When the vocal tract is partially closed, some of the airflow is blocked from exiting the mouth while we make sound. This airflow then cycles back towards the top of the vocal cords and neutralizes the pressure from the airflow coming up from the lungs. As a result, we are able to exercise our voices very gently and practice healthy vocalization while also receiving therapeutic benefits from these exercises.

Here’s a set of easy SOVT exercises to help you get started:

Step 1: Before we begin making sounds, let’s take a moment to connect with our breath by taking three breaths with the following intentions:

1. Breathe in, and notice any sensations of movement you feel in your body with that breath. Breathe out, and invite any tense muscles to soften and release.

2. Breathe in, and feel your torso expand like a balloon. Breathe out, and feel the balloon deflate until it’s completely empty.

3. Breathe in, and keep breathing in until your lungs feel completely full. Breathe out, and notice how your body feels.

If you like, you can stretch, wiggle, or shake things out. Invite your body to relax, and notice how it responds.

Step 2: Take a new breath in, and exhale while articulating this sound: “shh.” Keep the sound going for the entire length of the exhale. Is the “shh” sound consistent and steady, or inconsistent and shaky? Notice how the sound matches the movement of your exhaled breath. When you exhale smoothly, with a consistent stream of air, the “shh” sound flows equally smoothly at a consistent volume.

Experiment with your airflow and listen to the “shh” sounds that you can make with different amounts of air. Check in with the muscles in your face, jaw, mouth, tongue, throat, neck, and abdomen to make sure you’re not clenching anything while making the “shh” sound. Repeat this step as many times as you want, aiming for smoothness in your sound, until you feel ready to move on to Step 3.

Step 3: Now, let’s try a simple SOVT sound: humming. Breathe in, and as you exhale, lightly close your lips and hum on any comfortable pitch, sustaining the “mm” sound. Try holding one pitch for the length of an entire exhale, and notice how this compares to the experience of sustaining the “shh” sound in Step 2. Again, a smoother exhale will result in a smoother sound. Keep an eye out for muscle tension, paying special attention to the outer abdominal muscles, and encourage any tense muscles to soften and release.

Experiment with sustaining the hum on different pitches, and notice any vibrations of resonance that you feel in your body on these pitches. If you like, you can use a piano, keyboard, or pitch analyzing app to track which pitches feel easiest and most natural for you to hum.

Step 4: Repeat Step 3 with any or all of the following SOVT sounds: “nn,” “ng,” “vv,” “zz,” “jj,” or a voiced “th.” If you can, try using a lip trill or a tongue trill. You may notice that some of these sounds feel easier and more intuitive to you, while other sounds might feel more difficult to articulate or sustain. Choose your favorite SOVT sounds, and spend more time on those sounds that you like best!

Optional: You can also try “straw phonation” by humming through a straw, using an average-sized straw of any material. Place one end of the straw lightly between your lips and hold it there. With your lips closed around the straw, your mouth is now almost completely closed, with only a very small opening. The straw temporarily extends your vocal tract but only provides a very narrow channel for air to flow out of your mouth, so most of your exhaled breath is redirected back towards the top of your vocal cords. Make a humming sound through the straw for the length of a full exhale.

For a more advanced straw phonation, place the free end of the straw into a glass of water, just under the surface of the water. As you hum through the straw, this will blow bubbles in the water and add resistance to your exhale. This is called “bubble phonation.” Over time, with more practice, you can try putting the end of the straw deeper into the water to create even more resistance.

Step 5: Now that you’ve warmed up with sustained pitches on SOVTs, let’s try sliding through your whole vocal range. This type of sliding exercise is sometimes called a “siren,” or “sirening.” Using any of your favorite SOVT sounds, start on a pitch near the bottom of your range and slide up in pitch, going as high as you comfortably can without forcing anything. Then, try starting on a pitch near the top of your range and sliding all the way down. Try this a few times with different SOVT sounds, and see what you notice.

For example, as you slide through your range, do you feel yourself moving between registers? What do these movements feel like – are they smooth, or kind of clunky? Can you slide through most pitches along your range, or are there parts of your range where you abruptly jump over a bunch of notes? As you slide up and down, do you find one of those directions easier than the other? Do you feel vibrations of resonance moving into different parts of your body (perhaps into your chest, throat, mouth, face, sinus cavities, or top of your head) while you slide up and down through your range?

Repeat Step 5 by sirening a few times on the “oo” sound, if you haven’t already done so. This is a good one to end on before proceeding to Step 6.

Step 6: Using the “oo” sound, slide up and down over the “break” in your voice. This will likely be the most noticeable register transition in your range: the transition between chest voice registers and head voice registers. (If you can’t access your head voice, feel free to skip Step 6.) Practice sliding over the break repeatedly in both directions on the “oo” sound. Experiment with making this transition at different speeds, sometimes jumping quickly over the break and sometimes sliding slowly through the break.

If this feels a bit awkward, or you don’t like the way your break sounds, that’s actually pretty normal! Keep in mind that this register transition will get smoother and easier to control with more practice (and will also sound smoother when your voice is more warmed up).

Repeat Step 6 with other SOVT sounds. Then, try sliding through the break on open vowels such as “ah,” “oh,” and “eh.” Reflect on how these different sounds create different sensations while transitioning between registers. Does this transition feel easier or smoother on any particular SOVT sound, or on any specific vowel?

Optional: Consider any other register transitions that you may have noticed in your range while sirening in Step 5. Repeat Step 6 on any other transitional spot between registers that you can identify. What else do you notice about these registers, and the transition between them? Reflect on whether this transition feels natural to you, or whether it feels tricky or complicated. Sticky register transitions often smooth out over time with more practice.

Step 7 (Optional): Sing a 5-note scale (12345), or a 5-note ascending and descending scale (123454321), on any SOVT sound. Repeat this scale as many times as you like, moving the key up or down by half steps with each repetition. (If you need a little guidance on the 5-note scale, you can find it in a free app called Appcompanist — after you download the app, go to “Playlists,” click on “Top 50 exercises,” then choose “Exercise 1 - Scales.”)

You can try these scales in any range, perhaps starting with the most comfortable part of your range before working your way into more challenging ranges. Then, sing these same 5-note scales on made-up syllables that pair SOVT sounds with open vowels, such as “ma ma ma ma ma” on a 12345 scale, etc.

Step 8 (Optional): If you have a song that you’re currently working on, or a favorite karaoke song, or a song that you’ve been struggling with, try singing the entire song on SOVT sounds in place of the song’s lyrics. Then, sing the song again on made-up syllables that pair SOVT sounds with open vowels, such as “nga,” “ni,” “vo,” etc. Investigate which vocal registers you are using to navigate the song’s melody, and consider whether any registration adjustments might make the song feel physically easier to sing. Experiment as needed.

Step 9 (Optional): Let us know in the comments how this exercise went for you, and what you learned in the process!

Leave a comment

Peter Fullerton (he, him) is a transmasculine singer, voice coach, and trans voice specialist. He offers voice training and consulting services in Portland, Oregon and over Zoom. peterfullerton.com

For more information about voice change on testosterone therapy, check out Peter’s other resources on this topic:

• What actually happens during transgender voice change from testosterone therapy? (YouTube video)

• Vocal transition on testosterone therapy (Infographic)

• How does transgender voice change with testosterone therapy compare to adolescent cisgender male voice change? (Table)

For more information about vocal registers, including vocal exercises to help develop each register, check out Justin Stoney’s Vocal Register World Tour, produced by New York Vocal Coaching:

• How To Sing Chest Voice (YouTube video)

• How To Sing Head Voice (YouTube video)

• How To Sing Mix Voice (YouTube video)

For more guidance on SOVT exercises, check out these resources:

• Phonatory Exercises Handout: Semi-Occluded Vocal Tract Exercises from San Diego Voice and Accent (Handout)

• 7 vocal exercises for easier high notes from Dr. Nick Klein (Instagram reel)

• Transmasc Tension Reducers from Quinn Dinsmore (YouTube video)

• Bubble phonation from Diana Orbelo, PhD CCC-SLP at Mayo Clinic Otolaryngology (YouTube video)

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As a gender-affirming voice coach who’s worked with hundreds of transmasculine clients, I am frequently asked about voice masculinization!

Here are a few different ways that this question is typically put to me. These are not direct quotes from real individuals, but fictional examples of frequently asked questions…

The answer to all of these questions is a resounding YES! Many people learn voice masculinization (or feminization) techniques through gender-affirming voice lessons, voice coaching, or speech therapy. For those who prefer to train their voices on their own, there are many free resources on social media that may help, and resources available for purchase such as self-guided video courses.

Before we discuss voice training strategies, though, let’s consider a few common obstacles to voice masculinization:

• Stress – Believe it or not, stress can temporarily raise vocal pitch! This is a normal feature of our human nervous system.

• Energy - Similarly, vocal pitch rises when energy level rises. For example, high-energy emotions like excitement, fear, or anger tend to raise vocal pitch.

• Muscle tension – If certain muscles tighten, this will close off parts of the vocal tract that would otherwise produce darker, more “masculine” tones.

• Habitual speech patterns - Many of us developed traditionally “feminine” speech patterns prior to gender transition, and these habits can be difficult to change.

• Mirroring - We often mirror the people around us, and we may unconsciously bring our voice higher to match someone else’s pitch range.

• People-pleasing - The desire to get along with others and avoid conflict may bring our voice higher, perhaps into a deferential or apologetic tone.

• “Customer service voice” - As professional people-pleasers, those who work in customer service often find themselves speaking higher with customers.

• Childcare voice - Those who routinely spend time with babies, toddlers, and young children often speak at higher pitches and/or use higher vocal registers. The speech patterns that very young children find comforting are actually quite similar to voice feminization techniques! (Some transmasculine parents refer to this as “Mom voice,” even if they do not identify as a “Mom.”)

Notice that “lowering the pitch range of your speaking voice” is not one of the goals on this list — this is because each goal listed here will naturally cause vocal pitch to drop lower!

Importantly, gender transition is highly personalized, and not everyone who identifies as trans male or transmasculine feels a need to masculinize their voice.

Here’s a simple exercise that you can use to begin exploring voice masculinization:

Step 1: First, take a moment to relax. This can include sitting or lying down for a few minutes, checking in with body sensations, slowing your breathing or doing breathing exercises, stretching or moving your body in whatever ways feel good to you, and any other practices that you have already developed to relax your mind and body, such as meditation, other mindfulness exercises, or somatic exercises for nervous system regulation.

Step 2: Next, try to relax your vocal anatomy by inviting tense muscles to soften. As you inhale, imagine sending your inhaled breath into any muscles that feel tensed or activated. As you exhale, invite these same muscles to soften and release. Any amount of softening is helpful, even if you can’t totally release your muscles! Proceed with the following body scan: focus on relaxing facial muscles; the muscles around the eyes, eyebrows, and forehead; cheek and jaw muscles; the muscles around the lips; the tongue; neck and throat muscles; and all the delicate muscles around the larynx. Imagine that you are releasing the larynx to gravity, allowing it to rest low in the neck. (Do not manipulate or force your larynx into a low position – this should feel like “letting go” rather than actively doing something.)

Optional: For maximum benefit, include collarbones, chest, shoulders, back, ribcage and abdominal muscles in your body scan.

Step 3: Start to hum with lips lightly closed on any pitch that feels comfortable to vocalize. Experiment with sliding up and down in pitch (“sirening”) while humming, and try to find the specific pitch or pitch range where your lips start to tickle and vibrate. This will likely occur somewhere towards the low end of your range, although probably a little higher than the absolute bottom of your range.

Optional: Try humming on other SOVT sounds such as “nn,” “ng,” “oo,” “vv,” “zz,” “jj,” or a voiced “th.”)

Step 4: Staying within this same pitch range, move from a hum into an open vowel, making sounds like “ma ma ma,” “mi mi mi,” “may may may,” “mo mo mo,” or “moo moo moo.” Observe where you feel resonance in your body while making these sounds in this pitch range. Can you feel vibrations of resonance in your throat, in your chest, or in the back of your mouth? What does this sound like?

Optional: Try combining other SOVTs with open vowels like “na,” “ngo,” “ba,” etc.

Step 5: Make a sound like Santa Claus laughing (“ho ho ho”). Now, make a sound like evil villain laughter (“mwah hah hah”) or the Count from Sesame Street (“ah ah ah”). Can you feel vibrations of resonance in your throat, in your chest, or in the back of your mouth? What does this sound like?

If you can’t feel much resonance, try using different amounts of exhaled breath to make these sounds. Too little air will make a quiet sound that may not produce much resonance. Too much air will make the sound feel “pushed” or “forced” and may increase muscle tension.

Step 6: If you still aren’t feeling resonance in your throat or in the back of your mouth, consider your anatomical positioning, including your larynx, jaw, tongue, and mouth shape. Specifically, investigate whether you are still holding tension in any muscles that may be lifting your larynx, closing your throat, clenching your jaw, pulling your tongue back, or tensing facial muscles. When the tongue fully relaxes, it rests in a forward position in the mouth and feels soft in the throat.

Step 7: When you find a tickly, buzzy sensation in your lips while humming, and/or when you feel resonance in your throat on an open vowel or on a consonant and vowel pairing, notice the specific pitch range that elicits those sensations. If you like, you can use a piano, keyboard, or pitch-analyzing app to identify this range. This is the range your voice will likely return to when it is fully relaxed. What does it feel like? What does it sound like? Is this lower-pitched than your habitual speaking voice? Do you have experience using this pitch range, or does it feel unfamiliar to you?

Step 8: Now that you’re warmed up, you’re ready to do some practicing! Try reading out loud while continuing to play with resonance, listening to the sound of your voice, and observing body sensations as you hear yourself read. As you practice, continue to focus on relaxing the muscles around your vocal anatomy.

To further masculinize your voice, you may benefit from using fewer muscle movements to articulate certain vowels and consonants. For instance, do you make a wide shape with your lips (similar to a smile) when you form the “ee” vowel? If so, try making the “ee” sound without engaging your lips at all. You may find that a darker, more “masculine” resonance emerges when the lips stay neutral and don’t spread wide on this “ee” vowel! This same basic strategy can be applied to any vowel or consonant to improve the efficiency of muscle movements used for articulation.

Remember that a lack of expression, including fewer facial expressions and less smiling, often reads as “masculine” in contemporary Western society. Also, consider that voices sound less emotionally expressive, and therefore more “masculine,” when faces stay neutral. Think of a celebrity that you perceive as very masculine, and imitate their stoicism and relaxed self-confidence.

Step 9 (Optional): Let us know in the comments how this exercise went for you, and what you learned in the process!

Leave a comment

Peter Fullerton (he, him) is a transmasculine singer, voice coach, and trans voice specialist. He offers voice training and consulting services in Portland, Oregon and over Zoom. peterfullerton.com

For a list of transgender voice training resources, including information about voice change with testosterone, visit peterfullerton.com/trans-resources

The following online service providers offer gender-affirming speech training services and/or self-guided video courses for transgender voice training:

• Chris Gallego

• Peter Fullerton

• Quinn Dinsmore

• Renée Yoxon

• Seattle Voice Lab

You can look for a local service provider using the Vocal Congruence Project: Provider Map.

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