Interview with Kathe Perez, MA, CCC-SLP from Exceptional Voice, Inc., Denver, Colorado

Kathe, it was a pleasure meeting you at the Colorado Gold Rush this March.

Thank you Denae. Your work FemImage is so unique and so very important for TG woman. My expertise begins and ends with communication particularly the voice. As a certified Speech-Language Pathologist, I have nearly over 20 years of educational, clinical, and research knowledge and experience in understanding, training and caring for the human voice. I have been working in the TG and CD community for about 3 years.

Could you tell me what is the most important tip you would offer a new tg woman who wanted to work on her voice?

Relax. Learn the fundamentals and relax into the process. Too often I've seen TG women with a hard-driving approach to their voice training (and maybe to their whole transition). They want to get the perfect female voice NOW. And I tell them, it's a process. It takes time to develop. One of the most difficult things is to learn how to feel and hear a new pitch. Becoming acutely aware of genetic females and their pitch is a good start, but almost more important is experimenting or playing with your own pitch and voice. Find a safe, comfortable place to practice like your car, or better yet, the shower. Sing. Talk. Initially, it doesn't really matter what pitch your reaching, just begin to experience a higher pitch. It's okay to vocalize in your falsetto voice, although this won't ultimately be the place where you'll learn to speak.

What is the best pitch for a TG woman?

The pitch of the voice is the single most distinguishing feature which determines gender. There have been many research articles in the voice science and clinical speech pathology literature about speaking pitch (also referred to as speaking fundamental frequency or SFF). The average adult genetic female has a SFF of about 200 - 220 Hz. The average adult genetic male has a SFF 100-130 Hz. The SFF about 150-165Hz is the significant cut-off mark to determine gender. I encourage all my TG women to purchase an electronic tuner so they can get fast and easy feedback about their pitch. I have most women try to develop their pitch around 175 Hz or F3# on the musical scale.

Most TG woman that come to see me or take advantage of my Distance Coaching program, have been working in their falsetto voice. That's too high. It's too unnatural. It's too "Mickey Mouse." So I have them begin to identify the sensation just below the pitch break from their chest voice into their falsetto voice.

What's an electronic tuner?

Any music store where you'd purchase sheet music or instruments, like a guitar should carry them. They're about $30.00 and you speak or sustain a pitch and the tuner tells you which musical note you've hit. I've been trained as a speech pathologist so I've grown accustomed to thinking in Hertz, so I convert into musical notes which is what the tuner will give you. You need to set the tuner in the Key of C.

Kathe what type of practices do you recommend?

Breathing-good abdominal breathing is the key to ultimate control over the voice. The best singers and speakers in world have developed these skills. The fundamental structure of the voice (and all its parts) is completely dependent on airflow. Without good airflow, voicing is not possible.

Here's a simple breathing exercise. Imagine that you want to gently blow out a candle. Pull your belly muscles in and blow gently. Feel your belly expand as the air comes back in. Then do it again. Pull in and blow out. Relax. And again, pull in and blow out. Now, try to say a word such as "sauce" as you pull in. Keep your pitch up in your feminine range. This is an example of the exercises I would have someone practice.

How important is putting the body language with the voice body language?

Body language, facial expressions, posture and movement are huge aspects of femininity. It is essential that TG women develop these skills and Denae, your work is the best in the business with regard to this.