Glee, pt 2
An afterthought to my previous post…
I’ve also been thinking a lot about singing while watching Glee. I never particularly liked singing, but I’m pretty musical. I’ve been playing piano for years, and been told I have a nice singing voice. But I don’t think I’m a great singer, and don’t do it very often.
I suppose I should correct myself – I never liked hearing myself sing. I honestly do like singing, and really wish I could appreciate my own singing voice. (It’s a sign of how drunk I am if I’m willing, let alone eager, to sing while playing piano or Rock Band…)
But, even though I’m usually OK with my speaking voice (usually, mind you), I can never find a range I’m comfortable with while singing. My natural range is very male, and while I can hold a tune and know I’m a not-too-shabby singer, it doesn’t feel great that I always end up singing the male parts while driving in the car.
I’ve considered taking lessons, but feel like I’d automatically be outing myself if I do so. (I’m logically pretty sure that’s not true, but still feel like it is it.) I’ve been trying to get myself to sing more often, and not shy away from Rock Band at the very least, but it’s been an uphill climb…
Themocracy
I’m an active vocalist, but I started with a below average instrument, and I still carry a great deal of stress in my voice. My lowest reliable note is a low D, so I’m an average bass by choral music standards. I’m also MTF trans., but I wasn’t going to let that stop me from singing
. Roughly four years ago, I decided to see what I could do to really strengthen my falsetto range, and over the course of a summer, made surprising progress. When the choral music season resumed in the fall, I auditioned for an alto slot in a student women’s choir, and was accepted! Now, admittedly, I had a very supportive director, but having been with the group for more than three years now, I can also tell you that there is no reason to not accept mixed gendered voices into women’s choirs (indeed, now-a-days, I’m actively recruited). Male altos and sopranos are neither genetic anomalies nor terribly hard to find — it’s just a matter of putting in the effort to train the range and learn the female vowels.
It has been a huge amount of work, and I’m still learning and working hard at it, but it has been also hugely rewarding. Rarely do I forget myself as completely as I do when singing in that choir. Pop music is even easier — most pop music is in easy ranges for both men and women (much easier than the choral ranges), and I can now pull off a pop alto voice with aplomb.
The nature of the human voice is essentially determined by two things: the frequencies (and harmonics) the vocal chords produce, and the dynamic shape of the throat, mouth, and nasal passages which largely determine the mode of oscillation and the harmonics to select (like an equalizer). Hormonally changed vocal chords are obviously capable of producing much lower frequencies, but they are also all still capable of producing frequencies in the more “female” ranges with no magic other than training and practice.
Most of what goes into the training is about how you breathe and how you shape the spaces above your chords, and in these respects, male and female bodies are essentially the same: my “first tier” falsetto is essentially the same as a woman’s chest voice, and we train that range in the same ways and have roughly the same “break points” between female “chest” and “head” ranges, because those points are determined by the physics of things like neck and mouth length which vary as much across men as the do across women. Singing with a female “head voice” (rare in today’s pop) is still something of a challenge (mostly because, like a flute played in its third octave, it requires more support and it’s hard to do softly), but it again follows the same mechanics, and I now routinely produce better sounds than many of my peers.
Voice training is challenging work and often requires a lot of patience, “untraining” of bad habits, learning different ways of breathing, and really listening. When I finally made the breakthrough that told me to keep going, I was sobbing because I thought I was hopeless (and then I got some real “core” in the sound, and, oh! Wow!). As with so many seemingly impossible tasks, just keep putting in the effort, and you will make progress. I do a lot of experimentation and imitation of what I’m listening to in the car while driving, because that’s the place I feel most free to play. Remember also that all voices need to be “warmed up” to have the kind of flexibility to really sound good. I’ve also learned that warming up the lower ranges of the male registers makes a big difference when trying to warm up the upper registers. Yes, another tedious thing we have to deal with, but meh. Finally, finding a good vocal coach is hard, and exploring new vocal ranges can be emotionally difficult, so be patient and feel free to shop around. A good choir director might be enough to get you through the hardest parts first and recommend a good coach.
BTW, I just saw that episode of Glee a week ago over a gathering with my a cappella group. It was my first ever exposure to the show, and, given all that I’ve just described, I /was/ peeved. Yes, most of us end up making some sacrifices on behalf of our loved ones, but if I hadn’t learned where to draw the line, I’d probably be dead by now. No one should tell anyone who they /can’t/ be. My family no longer attends my concerts because my mother can’t handle the fact that I sing with the women. You know what? That’s not my problem.
Now we could say, “this was a free choice made by the character, and we will not judge him for it”, but it wasn’t a choice made by the character — it was a choice /and statement/ made by the program. Had he simply said “I no longer want this for personal reasons” I would have been totally fine with it, but pretending to fail or hiding abilities we’ve gained through hard effort just to fit the status quo isn’t good for anyone. See Harrison Bergeron.
Thanks for the comment, and for the encouragement, Jessie! I’m leaning more and more toward trying to find a vocal coach, although I don’t think I’m able to seriously look into it until March – I’m on a “no new commitments” regiment until my show and my students’ show are both done!
As for Glee, I completely agree. (And bonus points for the Harrison Bergeron reference!)