Exploring a Neutral or Non Conforming Voice
Many individuals who are nonbinary or some individuals who are binary desire a voice that is neutral and not definitively feminine or masculine. Many individuals also connect to different aspects of both feminine and masculine vocal traits. Speech and singing is subjective so exploring many different things about the voice can be helpful for people to express themselves.
Deepness, tone, pitch fluctuation, sentence shapes, airiness, mouth shape and breath support are all areas to explore your voice. Often mixing different aspects of stereotypical feminine and masculine voices can create a voice that is more flexible and neutral. It can be fun to draw from both sides of the spectrum in order to create an authentic voice that fits how you want to express yourself. Gender is an experience and expression of the self. It’s ok to define what that means in a way that is unique or similar to others. Stay away from anything that causes sharp pain or strain on the voice as that can limit your voice in the future and potentially injure your voice.
When you speak there is a pitch range that is often perceived as neutral and normal for both feminine and masculine voices. This range is 147 Hz-220 Hz. In this range how you express your voice is more important than the actual pitch. You can practice speaking in this range with a tuner app on your phone such as soundcourset. Start by humming in that range and then try to aim your speech to start at the same pitch level.
Many vocal traits are influenced by different vowels. Doing vocal warm ups based off of certain alternating vowels can often be helpful in creating a more flexible voice and knowing how to use your voice in different ways. For example, “EEE” or “AYY” are often more shaped like a smile. This will make your voice more forward and nasally. While an “oooh” will make your mouth wider and rounder. A vocal teacher or music therapist can help you learn about different ways to interact with your voice to create the sounds that reflect you the best.
Every voice is different so don’t be afraid to explore and be silly. If you aren’t sure how you want your voice to be you can also explore it through trying different thing and exploring your emotions while trying new things. This can be done through music therapy as that often involves processing feelings through song writing and musical exploration.
Sources:
Mills, M., & Stoneham, G. (2017). The Voice Book for Trans and non-binary People: A practical guide to creating and sustaining authentic voice and Communication. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Soundcorset Tuner
