Chimpo’s Voice Training Resources and General Guide
The goals I have for this website is that you can-
- Develop a voice that is authentically yours.
- Make that voice your default, natural way of speaking.
Although I as an individual have the most amount of experience with voice feminization, I aim to provide resources for voice masculinization, and I will note on each what they are geared towards. These resources will work for voice androgenization as well.
I do want to state up front- voice training is not a requirement to be trans! These can allow you to modify your voice to your preference and alleviate vocal dysphoria, but it’s 100% amazing if you find that you don’t need to, and are happy with your voice! For my gender fluid friends as well, these voice techniques can also be used to be able to allow for you to present however you want to represent yourself at any given time if you so desire!
Important Guidelines
- Avoid Pain: If any technique or resource is causing throat pain, stop immediately, rest your voice, and ensure you’re performing the exercises correctly. Voice training should not hurt if done properly, except for some fatigue from increased voice usage.
- Healing and Care: If your throat feels sore:
- Give it time to rest.
- Use SOVTs (Semi-Occluded Vocal Tract Exercises). Learn more in my [Soon to come] section of the site dedicated to exercises, or this YouTube video.
- Stay hydrated! Drink water regularly, and remember it takes 40–80 minutes for water to hydrate your throat.
- Explore Different Approaches: If one method or coach doesn’t work for you, try another. Voice training methods vary, and finding the right fit can be a process.
How To Start Guide
Exercises and Practice Techniques
Online Resources
- Other User Guides
- Adiisvcute’s Introductory Voice Training Guide
- For both masculinization and feminization
- It’s a well rounded guide- very up to date as of the moment, but definitely on the wordier side
- SumianVoice
- Sumi’s wiki, on voice training, good guides, more sciency, so if that works for you, amazing!
- Selene Da Silva Clip archive
- Absolutely fantastic resource, can highly recommend it from what I’ve listened to, uses a little bit different terminology than many other resources, but still fantastic! Primarily for voice feminization, but all the principles are able to be applied for masculinization as well.
- Transgender Teen Survival Guide on Tumblr
- For both masculinization and feminization
- DakotaAma’sVoiceTrainingGuide
- A little older guide, lots of good resources
- Ls Voice Training Guide (Level 1) on Reddit
- Note: A thorough vocal feminization guide, though somewhat verbose. Note: It is a bit older, and has some practices I can’t recommend - Skip the “hold on the swallow” exercise, as it can harm your throat-, but it works for many so still want to include it here.
- Romeos Trans Masc Voice Training Guide
- Fantastic vocal Masculinization guide, A touch older, but it works well for many
- Papers, and Non-audio guides
- Resonance and Pitch Tools
- Acoustic Gender Tool
- Speech Cadence Tool
- Note: Avoid over-focusing on pitch measurements on these; pitch is less important than overall resonance and cadence. These work well for both masculinization and feminization
- Other Resource Collections
-Transvoice Party
- Another resource collection I found after writing much of this page
Video Resources
YouTube Channels
- All of these youtube channels have resources for both masculinization and feminization, unless marked otherwise in the notes.
- Zoey Alexandria
- A fantastic coach with a focus on sustainable, long-term techniques.
- Nicole Gress
- Another fantastic coach- has good focus on warm-ups, and vocal health in the videos, as well as low bar to entry
- Deepstealth
- Although I haven’t reviewed all the videos, I’ve heard this channel be highly recommended by others - Feminization only
- Olivia Flanigan
- Same situation as Deepstealth, I haven’t watched many of the videos, just recommended by friends of mine.
- TransVoiceLessons
- Large note for this channel. This channel is generally the first people come across on YouTube when looking up “Trans Voice Training MTF”. It is also the most commonly watched as such, and the “Heat from Fire, Fire from Heat” meme mostly comes from this channel. That being said, the introductory videos are often a bit higher level than works for most people. It covers a lot of good content, and is incredibly informative, however, lots of the videos are too high of bar for entry for most.
- Vocal Team
- Newer channel, the videos I’ve watched so far are fantastic
- Channel: Vocal Team
Individual YouTube Tutorials and Playlists
- FairyPrincessLucy’s Voice Tutorials
- Playlist: FairyPrincessLucy’s Tutorials
- Note: Creator is not a professional voice coach but offer effective teaching methods. Made for voice feminization.
- YukkoEX’s Voice Tutorials
- Videos:
- Video 1
- Video 2
- Note: Creator is not a professional voice coach but offers effective teaching methods. Made for voice feminization.
Misc. Notes
Voice Lessons
- Depending on your situation, there are ways to do in person or online voice lessons. If you are able to go this route, it can be significantly more effective, as being able to see what your throat is doing, as well as the instant feedback can be monumental for helping some people with voice training. It can also provide motivation. To find these, look up online for transgender voice therapists or coaches in your area.
- One of the places I can highly recommend people go to for free group voice lessons is the VRChat Trans Academy. They host one or two voice training sessions per week, all open to the public. They are done either on Discord, or in VRChat. The sessions hosted in VRChat are often streamed to Twitch as well if you’d prefer watching there.
Vocal Surgeries
- Depending on your situation, it might make sense to opt for vocal surgeries. I do not have much information on this, and I strongly suggest trying other routes before going for surgery. Not only are vocal surgeries a quite risky procedure with severe consequences if the surgery is not successful, other routes can give you valuable skills even if you do end up opting for surgery, such as cadence.
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out on Discord, @chimpo_ , DMs are open.
If you have any suggestions, also feel free to DM on Discord.
By exploring these resources and taking care of your voice, you’ll be on your way to developing a confident and authentic voice that not only suits you, is you!