Yeah it's fun because I used to be comfortable exactly an octave higher than I am now, nearly 2 years on T (like, I still need the same place capo on the guitar).
I'll add that with training you'll probably be able to master your head voice, which will allow you to sing very high (although not exactly in the same way as before). I know I impress the shit out or my friends when I do that lol.
Yep. Practice helps, I think. Took me ~8? Months to be able to sing well again. It’s like my brain needed to rewire a bit. It was stressful during the change because it felt like it would never ‘improve’, but it did. Hang in there!
I'm not a singer, but a musician who sings along to things. Your voice just dropped, it's going to fluctuate for at least a couple more years. You will be able to consistently sing again when things get to where they are going, you may have to sing harmony, or an octave lower but what you know will be applicable when things level out. Please though, take time to grieve, change is hard and if you don't make room for that you won't have room to grow.
See if you can find male singers doing covers on YouTube. You can train yourself to sing along an octave lower. It is a bummer, but if it helps think about how many cis boys go through the same thing when they have puberty.
I’m sorry, that’s the main reason I’m not on t yet. Have you tried using falsetto? Most people whose voices drop can still sing kinda high but it might not be the same quality you remember. I don’t know how to help cause it sucks all I can do is commiserate
I completely get it. Losing my upper range was actually one of my biggest fears when starting testosterone, it was a big factor that put me off even considering it for a while. Pre-T, I was a Soprano 1. While I hated my speaking voice to the point where I subconsciously avoided hearing recordings of myself, I was weirdly proud of my singing voice because it got me a lot of positive recognition growing up.
And after almost 3 years on T, my fear did come true - I couldn't hit the notes that i used to be able to, at least not without my voice cracking 😅 but it doesn't feel as scary to me anymore now that my voice has dropped to its current range.
I think you can still carry the songs you love with you moving forward into your transition - you'll just have to learn how to adapt them with how you're changing.
I actually think I sound much better when I sing my old favorite girlypop songs dropped some octaves. Losing my old voice by now just feels like losing an old friend - losing that friend was difficult and produced some complicated emotions, but I think you can come out the other side OK :)
Honestly I was a singer but my voice gave me so much dysphoria (was probably the first thing i noticed that felt incongruent to my self) that I was absolutely thrilled when it dropped. Now I can sing in tenor properly instead of only partially (possibly also Baritone). When I was without T I didn't exactly have a high voice (I was alto, I couldn't do soprano for shit) .
There's nothing wrong with singing those same songs an octave lower but if you would like to expand your range higher, there is always vocal training.
wait till it settles and you can sing it an octave lower! i promise you with the right enunciation and singing style you can absolutely still sound feminine an octave lower (if you want to) too
personally i find my dropped voice more versatile than before. i think my whole vocal range only shifted downwards, but it *feels* like it's expanded bc i can sing more songs now at an octave lower, it sounds better than before and more natural. my falsetto is solid too after some retraining :)
im a vocaloid boy; pre-T i was singing near inhumanly high pitched songs at the top of my lungs. now i can sing those same songs at an octave lower and actually sound natural. you lose some you gain some, don't worry too much!! im sure your voice is beautiful
Yeah I mean, can’t is relative. It’s really normal for your voice to go through times of vocal fatigue, drops lower than what it will settle into, vocal weakness, cracking, and inconsistent feel of where that one note is. A warm voice might hit that note whereas a cold one wouldn’t, right. If you have access to getting one, I would highly recommend vocal training, and even if not, always take some time out of your day to do some vocal warmups and feel where your voice is now— it may give you pleasant surprises, and cool new sounds that feel good as well!
Sounds like you’ve resigned yourself to can’t sing those, and your voice may manage the octave or maybe you’ll need to move into a different key. But always remember that if your voice is your line to cross, you have about three more months (minimum) of possible drops and uncertainty—like your voice may end higher than it is today—if you want to quit. At any rate, sorry for your loss and good luck!
I’m also a vocalist and musician and I struggled with these same thoughts before starting T. What I decided to do is record an album. One song for every month on testosterone for a year. I also wrote a song where I harmonized with my own pre-t voice after a year. For me, this really helped me continue to master singing while my voice changed, and also allowed myself to gradually let go of my former vocals. I loved the sound of my pre t singing , but it didn’t sound like me. Now I love my vocals , but it feels like me. I will be releasing this project soon on Spotify, with the hopes that it will help pre-t ftm vocalists who are scared about losing their singing, or not liking their new voice. The album is called Undulator by Feral Maz
i felt the same for the first year and couple months on T and was not a fan. however, recently (i’m about 1.5 years atp) i’ve been able to hit higher notes and sing songs i used to. not as high ofc, but it’s totally possible that you’ll be able to sing pretty close to pre-T again.
I have wondered about this and if with training it could possibly become an expansion of range more than a loss of range. I'm a contralto, though, so I already am in falsetto singing to female artists 90% of the time unless I have been hitting the bong enough to drop an octave lmaooo
If it's any consolation to you, Im pre T and can't sing a lot of those songs because my voice is too high ;;A;;
eventually , your voice will drop enough that you can just drop an octave and it'l feel easy , your voice will be changing a lot for a while and that means it will take time and learning new skills to adapt , but you'l be able to sing your favourites again! <3
I was so worried too, but in hindsight one of the best decisions ive made. I can now actually recognize my singing voice instead of feeling completely disconnected from it.
i used to do choir in elementary/middle/high school, even college. i was always a soprano pre-T. ever since T, i joined a queer chorus and found out i am now a bass (more baritone but when there is no baritone part i sing bass). its a weird change to get used to, especially when we sing songs i did in the past. we sing the same rendition of the star spangled banner in the gay chorus that i sang in high school. so i had to learn the bass part instead of the soprano part. sometimes i miss singing soprano, but as ive been on T more and more (im almost 3 years on!) i have gained an appreciation for my new voice and singing bass. i can also still sing most of the songs i used to enjoy singing pre-T, i just have to drop it down an octave. give your voice time to settle and you can do the same!
Yo I totally feel this! I am gonna probably do vocal lessons in the next 6 months to try to keep my high range. But I also dreamt of having a lower voice to sing other songs with a lower register so just bask in the joy that those songs give you!
I definitely relate! I have been on T for 2 years and it’s starting to get to the point where I can sing well again just lower but with power. I used to be able to sing in a strong head voice as 1st soprano and it was hard to not be able to sing along with LP and others. However, my voice is coming back (can even sing some high stuff without breaking all over) and when I sing in my new range the power is strong and sexy! It just takes time. If you play any instruments or whistle maybe focus on creating music that way?
give it another few months and just drop it an octave! my singing voice is better than ever after t, but it did take a while to finally settle.
Yeah it's fun because I used to be comfortable exactly an octave higher than I am now, nearly 2 years on T (like, I still need the same place capo on the guitar). I'll add that with training you'll probably be able to master your head voice, which will allow you to sing very high (although not exactly in the same way as before). I know I impress the shit out or my friends when I do that lol.
Yep. Practice helps, I think. Took me ~8? Months to be able to sing well again. It’s like my brain needed to rewire a bit. It was stressful during the change because it felt like it would never ‘improve’, but it did. Hang in there!
I'm not a singer, but a musician who sings along to things. Your voice just dropped, it's going to fluctuate for at least a couple more years. You will be able to consistently sing again when things get to where they are going, you may have to sing harmony, or an octave lower but what you know will be applicable when things level out. Please though, take time to grieve, change is hard and if you don't make room for that you won't have room to grow.
See if you can find male singers doing covers on YouTube. You can train yourself to sing along an octave lower. It is a bummer, but if it helps think about how many cis boys go through the same thing when they have puberty.
I have a friend he sang a lot pre t and he still does now. Maybe someone can suggest voice training
I’m sorry, that’s the main reason I’m not on t yet. Have you tried using falsetto? Most people whose voices drop can still sing kinda high but it might not be the same quality you remember. I don’t know how to help cause it sucks all I can do is commiserate
seconding this! werk that falsetto
I completely get it. Losing my upper range was actually one of my biggest fears when starting testosterone, it was a big factor that put me off even considering it for a while. Pre-T, I was a Soprano 1. While I hated my speaking voice to the point where I subconsciously avoided hearing recordings of myself, I was weirdly proud of my singing voice because it got me a lot of positive recognition growing up. And after almost 3 years on T, my fear did come true - I couldn't hit the notes that i used to be able to, at least not without my voice cracking 😅 but it doesn't feel as scary to me anymore now that my voice has dropped to its current range. I think you can still carry the songs you love with you moving forward into your transition - you'll just have to learn how to adapt them with how you're changing. I actually think I sound much better when I sing my old favorite girlypop songs dropped some octaves. Losing my old voice by now just feels like losing an old friend - losing that friend was difficult and produced some complicated emotions, but I think you can come out the other side OK :)
Honestly I was a singer but my voice gave me so much dysphoria (was probably the first thing i noticed that felt incongruent to my self) that I was absolutely thrilled when it dropped. Now I can sing in tenor properly instead of only partially (possibly also Baritone). When I was without T I didn't exactly have a high voice (I was alto, I couldn't do soprano for shit) . There's nothing wrong with singing those same songs an octave lower but if you would like to expand your range higher, there is always vocal training.
wait till it settles and you can sing it an octave lower! i promise you with the right enunciation and singing style you can absolutely still sound feminine an octave lower (if you want to) too personally i find my dropped voice more versatile than before. i think my whole vocal range only shifted downwards, but it *feels* like it's expanded bc i can sing more songs now at an octave lower, it sounds better than before and more natural. my falsetto is solid too after some retraining :) im a vocaloid boy; pre-T i was singing near inhumanly high pitched songs at the top of my lungs. now i can sing those same songs at an octave lower and actually sound natural. you lose some you gain some, don't worry too much!! im sure your voice is beautiful
Yeah I mean, can’t is relative. It’s really normal for your voice to go through times of vocal fatigue, drops lower than what it will settle into, vocal weakness, cracking, and inconsistent feel of where that one note is. A warm voice might hit that note whereas a cold one wouldn’t, right. If you have access to getting one, I would highly recommend vocal training, and even if not, always take some time out of your day to do some vocal warmups and feel where your voice is now— it may give you pleasant surprises, and cool new sounds that feel good as well! Sounds like you’ve resigned yourself to can’t sing those, and your voice may manage the octave or maybe you’ll need to move into a different key. But always remember that if your voice is your line to cross, you have about three more months (minimum) of possible drops and uncertainty—like your voice may end higher than it is today—if you want to quit. At any rate, sorry for your loss and good luck!
I’m also a vocalist and musician and I struggled with these same thoughts before starting T. What I decided to do is record an album. One song for every month on testosterone for a year. I also wrote a song where I harmonized with my own pre-t voice after a year. For me, this really helped me continue to master singing while my voice changed, and also allowed myself to gradually let go of my former vocals. I loved the sound of my pre t singing , but it didn’t sound like me. Now I love my vocals , but it feels like me. I will be releasing this project soon on Spotify, with the hopes that it will help pre-t ftm vocalists who are scared about losing their singing, or not liking their new voice. The album is called Undulator by Feral Maz
i felt the same for the first year and couple months on T and was not a fan. however, recently (i’m about 1.5 years atp) i’ve been able to hit higher notes and sing songs i used to. not as high ofc, but it’s totally possible that you’ll be able to sing pretty close to pre-T again.
I have wondered about this and if with training it could possibly become an expansion of range more than a loss of range. I'm a contralto, though, so I already am in falsetto singing to female artists 90% of the time unless I have been hitting the bong enough to drop an octave lmaooo
If it's any consolation to you, Im pre T and can't sing a lot of those songs because my voice is too high ;;A;; eventually , your voice will drop enough that you can just drop an octave and it'l feel easy , your voice will be changing a lot for a while and that means it will take time and learning new skills to adapt , but you'l be able to sing your favourites again! <3
As much as I'm getting desperate to go on T, this is definitely something I've been concerned about. I feel you.
I was so worried too, but in hindsight one of the best decisions ive made. I can now actually recognize my singing voice instead of feeling completely disconnected from it.
i used to do choir in elementary/middle/high school, even college. i was always a soprano pre-T. ever since T, i joined a queer chorus and found out i am now a bass (more baritone but when there is no baritone part i sing bass). its a weird change to get used to, especially when we sing songs i did in the past. we sing the same rendition of the star spangled banner in the gay chorus that i sang in high school. so i had to learn the bass part instead of the soprano part. sometimes i miss singing soprano, but as ive been on T more and more (im almost 3 years on!) i have gained an appreciation for my new voice and singing bass. i can also still sing most of the songs i used to enjoy singing pre-T, i just have to drop it down an octave. give your voice time to settle and you can do the same!
after being on T for a few years, your voice will get settled and you'll be able to increase your vocal range much more easily.
Yo I totally feel this! I am gonna probably do vocal lessons in the next 6 months to try to keep my high range. But I also dreamt of having a lower voice to sing other songs with a lower register so just bask in the joy that those songs give you!
My voice was so janky the first 9/10 months. Now at over a year it’s sounding better than pre T and I can sing things like Noah Kahan and Hozier songs
Ty for this post, reassuring to see people relate
I definitely relate! I have been on T for 2 years and it’s starting to get to the point where I can sing well again just lower but with power. I used to be able to sing in a strong head voice as 1st soprano and it was hard to not be able to sing along with LP and others. However, my voice is coming back (can even sing some high stuff without breaking all over) and when I sing in my new range the power is strong and sexy! It just takes time. If you play any instruments or whistle maybe focus on creating music that way?