Voice Training (Why does it hurt?)

[Tango]

I've been doing research on techniques to lower my voice, and while it does sort of work, I find my throat getting tight very quickly and I end up with a coldness or pain in my chest for a while afterwards. I have to be doing this wrong, right? Any advice to someone trying to naturally lower their voice before starting T?

[VickySGV]

1 hour ago, Tango said:

I have to be doing this wrong, right?

 

I work with a Chorus that has Trans men trying to move from alto to baritone speak hoarsely about those and similar sensations.  Only solution is to not overdo the situation at any one time and keep going with daily practices to get the tissue to adapt. Listen to your body and in time it will go along with your mind.

[Tango]

Thanks for the advice! I guess it's just muscles like any other part of your body, so daily practice is probably the way to go.

[VickySGV]

24 minutes ago, Tango said:

so daily practice is probably the way to go.

Daily practice, stop when you fell it as a strain, before it starts hurting,

[Russ Fenrisson]

30-minutes to an hour of training should be good right? Two hours might be overdoing it? I've been practicing sometimes but not very often as I'm never really alone.

[Vidanjali]

On 1/16/2023 at 3:10 PM, Russ Fenrisson said:

30-minutes to an hour of training should be good right? Two hours might be overdoing it? I've been practicing sometimes but not very often as I'm never really alone.

 

I would suggest timing varies from person to person & changes the longer one practices consistently. Vicky mentioned choir. I sometimes fill in with the tenor section and my throat eventually becomes a bit painful too, even despite my knowledge of technique and "chest voice". But, speaking of which, for trans folks who want a deeper voice and are not as such knowledgeable, look up videos on singing with chest voice as that will provide knowledge of some mechanisms which can be practiced more regularly - the mindfulness of where your resonance emanates from. 

[Russ Fenrisson]

Yeah, I was wondering about that. Sometimes I like to sing (I don't know how very good) and I'll start in a regular or slightly higher voice before going lower. I'm not exactly sure how to reach the "chest voice" but I've been trying to figure it out. I mostly resonate in my throat and I've been trying to figure out how to plant my voice in my chest, as I heard talking from your throat can cause strain, loss of tone(?), and croakiness.

 

I'll definitely need to look up more on the subject. Thanks, Vidanjali.