Doe, a deer, a female deer.... Most of us know that song from "The Sound of Music". But most of us never have to think of what has to be done to hit a note perfectly, all the time, at will, without thinking about it. My feminine voice has been a work in progress for several years. And I am now on the cusp of breaking out of the habitual way that males sound like males, even when speaking in a pitch more associated with females.
As normal for this semester, my Thursday schedule called for me to visit the Speech and Hearing Center at Mercy College for my weekly speech therapy session. Although the two student clinicians say that my voice has improved a lot and that I am consistently speaking in a feminine pitch, I am far from happy. I do not have that melodic prosody that a typical female uses in everyday speech.
The latest "take home" exercise I have been given is to record myself doing the "scales" (by humming and singing the notes). I'm not exactly sure of what this will do for me, but I am game to try anything. In the past, I have recorded myself reciting the full text of the poem "Jabberwocky". And I still sounded like a male speaking the words. Vowels were not extended enough, and the tone of my voice didn't vary as much as a normal female's would when speaking the same words.
My voice is still a work in progress. At least, it's not the dead giveaway for me being transgender as it used to be when I started down this path towards an authentic feminine self.
