A number of people recommended that I take up singing lessons to help improve my transition to a feminine voice. This I have done and, so far, I've found the experience very enjoyable. Not that I have actually sung yet - I have been concentrating on learning the exercises first. These exercises are:
Correct Breathing
This involves inhaling so that your diaphragm fills up with air and exhaling to deflate your diaphragm. It's not as easy as you might think!
Humming
Humming like a siren (rising and lowering the pitch) but making the noise as nasal as you can.
Chewing
Chewing nothing but air but opening the mouth as wide as you can and moving the tongue in as exagerated manner as you can.
Hissing
For this you have to inhale as much air as you can and then pinch your nose and hiss for as long as you can (until you're about ready to collapse from lack of oxygen!). My teacher says this is more effective than push-ups for getting you fit!
Inflection Exercises
I have two inflection exercises: One is to count to twenty and raise the pitch at the end of each number. The other is to say the days of the week at the highest pitch I'm comfortable with and, again, raise the pitch at the end of each word.
Speaking Nasally
This involves saying "Moon", "Noon" and "Money" as nasally as I can.
Speaking With A Smile
For this I have to say "Gee" and "Gah" whilst smiling. It's meant to keep my larynx still and bring my voice to the front of my mouth instead of the back.
The lessons have also illustrated to me the importance of finding a teacher you click with. For, even though my singing teacher is in no way an expert on developing a female voice, I have found her lessons far more productive than the ones I had with the speech therapist a year ago.
I put this down to my singing teacher being able to put things across in a way I understand and thus inspire confidence in her. This enables me to feel far more relaxed in her company than I ever did with my speech therapist and thus get more out of the lessons.
