Samantha Belinski

Dr. McCarther

Voice Science

5 December, 2022

Working With Transgender Singers in the Voice Studio and Choral Rehearsal

In recent years, there has been an increase in conversations and research when it comes to

transgender singers and as more and more individuals begin to feel comfortable in being open

with their identity, many music educators will have experience working with these students. For

singers who decide to transition to the gender in which they identify, the voice will go through

many changes that music educators need to be aware of so they can help their students be

successful; however, many teachers still feel unknowledgeable about this topic since the research

on teaching transgender singers is still fairly new. It is important for music educators to

understand the transitions that come with hormone therapy as they teach students who are

transgender, and there are particular practices that should be followed when teaching these

students in private voice lessons that can also be carried over into a choral setting.

Before analyzing any best practices, it is important to understand what happens to the

voice during the transition from either male to female or vice versa. For those who are

transitioning from male to female, many choose to start hormone therapy by taking estrogen.

This hormone causes physical changes, but does not necessarily alter the speaking voice and any

changes that occur while taking estrogen are not permanent. Due to this, those going through this

transition often choose to go to voice therapy and do specific vocal exercises that make their

voice begin to sound more feminine and to work on raising the pitch of their speaking voice

(Aguirre, 2018). Any vocal changes that are noticed while going through hormone therapy will
be similar to symptoms that women notice throughout their menstrual cycle, as estrogen has

natural effects that change the quality of the voice throughout the cycle. Since taking estrogen

alone does not cause the changes that many might be hoping for, some might also consider

laryngeal surgery to raise the pitch of their voice but this all depends on the individual and the

results they want (Lessley, 2017).

For those who are going the other direction and are transitioning from female to male,

starting hormone therapy with testosterone has permanent effects on the voice so it’s important

for these individuals and their voice teachers to understand the changes their voice will undergo

and to understand that the changes that occur cannot be undone (Aguirre, 2018; Lessley, 2017).

Individuals starting hormone therapy should also gradually increase the dosage of testosterone

since taking a large dose at one time can have negative effects on the voice. The vocal changes

that happen during a female to male transition have been compared to those that boys go through

during puberty (Manternach et al., 2017). During puberty, the vocal folds thicken and grow in

length while the cartilage in the larynx grows. This cartilage only grows during puberty in

biological males, however; those taking testosterone will not experience this cartilage growth

and the vocal folds will only thicken, not lengthen. Muscles, fat, and skin will be most affected

by hormone therapy so while the vocal folds will experience changes the surrounding anatomy

will remain the same, keeping the vocal tract the same as that of a biological female. The vocal

folds will become inflamed with the addition of testosterone and some beginning signs of the

vocal change are hoarseness, struggles with singing higher pitches, and having an unstable voice

around the passagio (Lessley, 2017), and while these symptoms are frustrating to work through

they should not be alarming.

 When working with transgender females, exercises focusing on breathing and posture

should be introduced to try to help them feel more connected and comfortable in their body.

Exercises that encourage relaxation should be introduced in order to try to relieve any sources of

tension in the voice, and many individuals going through this transition might experience tongue

tension, so these exercises would aim to help relieve this as well. A good way to begin each

lesson, after addressing breath and posture, would be to have the singer do exercises on a lip trill,

tongue trill, or singing through a straw, and these exercises would help address and relieve any

tension as well. Since many individuals will be speaking at a higher pitch to try to sound more

feminine, it is common for vocal fatigue to be experienced so it is important to also discuss vocal

health and steps they can take to prevent their voice from tiring so quickly. These singers will

also need to strengthen their different registers individually and then begin to combine the usage

of their chest and head voice, but it is necessary to first have the discussion of what they need out

of their voice lessons and what they are not comfortable with. Certain individuals might feel

uncomfortable spending a lot of time working in their lower registers when they want to be

strengthening their higher register to sound more feminine, so the teacher and student should

have a conversation about what they want to work on and what they feel like they need in order

to succeed in their goals (Lessley, 2017).

When working with transgender males, there should be a focus on the fundamental ideas

in regard to posture and breathing as well, similar to when working with transgender women.

Warmups focusing on posture and respiration should be framed in a positive way to allow the

singer to begin to feel more connected to their body. An important note to make about

transgender male singers is that they will be more likely to take high, shallow breaths since many

choose to wear chest binders. These devices might have an effect on breath and support, so
teachers will have to train these singers to take lower and deeper breaths so they can have more

support as they sing (Aguirre, 2018; Lessley, 2017). These singers would also benefit from

beginning their lessons with lip trills, tongue trills, or singing through a straw, and these

exercises would also help them feel the support that they will need to sing. Additionally, the

passagio will be greatly affected with the voice change that accompanies hormone therapy, and it

is important to work through these difficulties that singers will experience without overdoing it.

Their voices will be fragile as they change and settle, so the breaks in the passagios should be

addressed in each lesson but not focused on so much that harm comes to the voice. Both head

and chest voice registers should be strengthened, and exercises with smaller intervals or glides

would help with this and they should be done in each register individually and then be used to

move between different registers after the singer has had time to strengthen their chest and head

voices. An important conversation to have with the singer is what they want to work on and what

they feel the most comfortable with; some transgender men do not want to sing for extended

periods of time in their upper register and would rather work on strengthening their lower range,

aiding in their transition as their voice lowers and helping them to sound more masculine. Each

singer will be different and knowing what will work best for them is a necessary first step. It is

also important to be aware of hyperfunctional patterns in transgender male singers; these singers

are more prone to behaviors such as laryngeal tension and over-adduction of the vocal folds, so

teachers should be paying attention to see if any of these behaviors are becoming habits or are

already habits that need to be broken (Lessley, 2017).

It is important to also examine the research and information on transgender singers in the

choral context. As more and more individuals identify as transgender, and as they openly identify

at a younger age, it is becoming more and more common for music educators to encounter these
students in their classrooms. While many music educators have positive attitudes towards

transgender students, and the LGBTQ community in general, many still feel unknowledgable

about the issues transgender students face and many feel unprepared to teach this population

(Aguirre, 2018). The first step in acknowledging these students in the choral classroom is

updating the gendered ideas that are found in choral classrooms around the country. An example

of these ideas are seen in the concert attire that students are expected to wear: sopranos and altos

wear dresses while the tenors and basses wear tuxedos. Rather than assigning specific attire to

each section, allowing each individual student to decide which outfit they are most comfortable

wearing gives them not only the choice to feel confident and comfortable for performances, but it

gives transgender singers the opportunity to wear the clothes that most suits their identity.

Additionally, music educators should avoid gendered language; rather than addressing the choir

as “ladies and gentlemen”, an alternative would be to address the choir by their voice part or use

gender-neutral language when referring to the choir as a whole (Price, 2022?).

When it comes to the voice, many of the exercises or skills that are focused on in private

voice lessons can be carried over into the choral context, and the discussions about vocal health

and steps to take to protect the voice should be had with the choir as well. Warmup exercises

focusing on breath and support and reminders of how to achieve good support throughout the

rehearsal are useful for every singer in the choir, not just those who are transgender. Exercises

that use smaller intervals or glides can easily be incorporated into the choral warmup, and this is

something that many choral directors do already. Working on each register of the voice can also

be addressed throughout the rehearsal process through the warmup exercises and through the

repertoire that is chosen for the choir to sing.

 Choral directors also need to be aware of what their students can sing so they can

program repertoire that comfortably falls within their range, and this is beneficial to all students

in the choir. This is also necessary so they can assign students to the proper voice part, especially

during the vocal change that comes with hormone therapy if students choose to go in that

direction. When it comes to working with transgender students in a choir, some argue that they

should be able to choose the voice part that they are most comfortable singing since they can feel

what is changing and no longer comfortable in their voice, and the teacher would just need to

check in with the student as their voice continues to change to see if they need to switch voice

parts as more time passes. Some students might want to sing a different voice part but would

harm their voice in doing so, either because the repertoire for that particular part is out of their

range or singing in that particular register would cause them more vocal fatigue. If this is the

case, the teacher might have the student sing the voice part that they currently are and stand them

at the end of the section. Doing this would allow the student to stand near and look like they are

part of their desired section, especially if they choose to wear the same attire, while also singing

the voice part that is most healthy for them to sing (Price, 2022).

As explained earlier, testosterone lowers the voice and thickens the vocal folds so those

taking this hormone might be able to move to a lower voice part as their voice begins to change

and settle. For transgender females, an option they might have is to sing in their falsetto,

especially if they want to sing in the soprano or alto section; this, however, should be done with

caution as prolonged falsetto usage can cause vocal fatigue, so students who choose to do this

should still be monitored by the teacher (Aguirre, 2018). Some argue against heavy falsetto

usage, so this should be a conversation between the student and teacher to make sure the singer is

using their falsetto correctly and comfortably. Transgender singers will also need to work on
strengthening both their chest and head voices, which is something the teacher should try to

address in choral warmups and the repertoire that is chosen; doing this will benefit not only the

transitioning singer, but it will also be beneficial for the other singers in the choir as they work

on their different registers and navigating their passagios.

To conclude, there are several vocal changes and challenges that transgender singers

experience as they go through hormone therapy, and these changes can be addressed in both

private voice lessons and choral rehearsals. The incorporation of beneficial exercises and

warmups into the choral rehearsal that address the vocal changes of transgender singers are

exercises that can also be useful for the rest of the choir in strengthening their skills as singers.

With the increase in transgender students that music educators will have experience working

with, it is important for teachers to educate themselves on the transition that comes with hormone

therapy so they can best help their students in their voice lessons and choir rehearsals and so

their students can begin to find their voice at this point in their transition.
 Works Cited

Aguirre, R. (2018). Finding the Trans Voice: A Review of the Literature on Accommodating

Transgender Singers. Applications of Research in Music Education, 37(1), 36–41.

https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/8755123318772561

Kathy Price, “Working with Transgender Singers” (lecture, Westminster Choir College of Rider

University, Lawrenceville, NJ, October 13, 2022).

Lessley, E. (2017). Teaching Transgender Singers (dissertation).

Manternach, B., Chipman, M., Rainero, R., & Stave, C. (2017). Teaching Transgender Singers.

Part 1: The Voice Teachers’ Perspectives. Journal of Singing, 74(1), 83–88.

Manternach, B. (2017). Teaching Transgender Singers. Part 2: The Singers’ Perspectives.

Journal of Singing, 74(2), 209–214.