Abstract:

Trans voices are unique and often overlooked in Western classical vocal pedagogy as they can be difficult to fach and may not follow a traditional journey of vocal development. Although there is a wide and wonderful array of trans voices in music, this article guides music professionals through methods to approach, teach, and choose repertoire for a young adult voice developing through testosterone hormone replacement therapy. Testosterone hormone therapy is used to induce the physical body changes caused by male hormones during puberty in order to better promote gender identity and body congruence. Specifically regarding the voice, testosterone therapy will produce the same physical phenotypes as male puberty over a shortened window of time, including: increased vocal fold thickness, cartilage growth, cartilage tilt (the Adam’s apple), and early cartilage ossification. These physical changes will result in a variety of phonation changes, including: general deepening of the voice over time, consistent hoarseness, weakness, cracking, a decrease in range or two separate ranges with missing pitches between, and even difficulty matching pitch. These changes are unique to testosterone hormone therapy and deserve a place in literature to be explored, developed, and understood, allowing us to expand Western pedagogy to a more diverse world of classical voice.