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How to Change Your Voice

Medically reviewed by Debra Sullivan, Ph.D., MSN, R.N., CNE, COI — Written by Corey Whelan on April 20, 2020

Voice determiners
Changing your voice
Surgical solutions
At-home training
Vocal cord care
Voice mechanics
Takeaway

Various methods can help you make your voice either deeper or more high-pitched . This may involve doing vocal exercises, working with a voice coach, or having surgery. It may depend on the specific change you wish to make.

Your voice has the ability to command, soothe, and entertain. But if you don’t like the way it sounds, it may affect your confidence to do those things.

The way you sound is just as important as the words you say. While not everyone who wants to change their voice can become a Grammy Award-winning singer, there are steps you can take to improve the overall sound, tone, texture, and quality of your voice.

Keep reading to learn about what determines the sound and texture of your voice, and what you can do to change it.

What makes up the sound and texture of your voice?

The sound and texture of your voice are determined by multiple factors.

Heredity

Heredity is one factor. You may have noticed that people within the same family often have voices that sound similar. That’s because the larynx, which contains the vocal cords, has uncountable physical variations, just like every other part of your anatomy.

Gender

Gender also plays a role. From birth, boys develop larger vocal cords than girls do. At puberty, testosterone acts to enlarge the larynx.

The vocal cords also lengthen and thicken as you age, generating a deeper resonance and vibration. That’s why male voices lower and deepen at puberty, while female voices remain relatively high.

Hormones and weight

Hormones and their impact on weight can also affect how you sound. Men with obesity produce an overabundance of estrogen, causing their voices to raise. On the other hand, women with obesity produce an overabundance of testosterone, which may deepen their voices.

Being overweight may also affect breath control, making the voice sound raspy or breathless. Being underweight, in reverse, may also affect your voice by reducing your endurance and making your vocal cords more prone to injury.

Height

Height also influences the sound of your voice. Taller people tend to have larger lower airways and lungs, causing them to have deeper voices than shorter people.

Structural anomalies

Structural anomalies, such as a deviated septum or cleft palate, can affect the way you sound, as can your language, diction, and accent.

Your age, emotional state, overall health, and the cleanliness of the air you breathe can also alter the pitch, timbre, sound, and texture of your voice.

How to change the sound of your voice

The first step to changing your voice is to decide what about your voice you don’t like. Is it too nasal? Do you have an accent you don’t like? Are you a breathy speaker?

Consider what about your voice is displeasing to you. This will make it easier to figure out how to change it.

Work with a speech therapist

If you have a speech disorder, working with a speech therapist will help. Speech disorders can include difficulties with articulation, such as lisping, or difficulties with fluency, such as stuttering.

Hire a vocal coach

If you wish to make your voice more powerful, eliminate an accent, or improve the overall quality of your speaking voice, working with a vocal coach, either in person or online, can help.

A voice coach will help you learn how to shape vowels and consonants differently and isolate various elements of speech. They’ll also help you focus on the following:

how to hold your lips and mouth
tongue position
eliminating jaw tension
posture and breath control
diaphragm voice projection
articulation
pitch range

You can find a speech therapist or a voice coach through the Voice and Speech Trainers Association.

Surgical solutions

There are a number of surgical procedures that can lower or raise the pitch of your voice. They include:

Voice feminization surgery. Your voice can be altered surgically so that it no longer makes low pitched sounds. This is called voice feminization surgery or feminization laryngoplasty. During voice feminization surgery, the voice box is made smaller and the vocal cords are shortened. Trans women sometimes undergo this procedure.
Laser vocal cord tuning. This procedure uses a laser to tighten the vocal cords, which helps raise pitch. It may also be used to shrink smokers’ polyps, which will also raise pitch.
Pitch lowering surgery. This procedure lowers pitch by loosening the vocal cords, or by rearranging soft tissue to add mass to the vocal cords.

Be your own vocal coach

If you want to be your own vocal coach, there are voice exercises you can do at home. First, you need to know how your voice actually sounds.

First, make a recording of your voice

Your voice may sound different to you than it does to everyone else. That’s because when you speak, your voice travels simultaneously through the air and your skull.

The sound your voice makes is transmitted into your eardrums via air, where it vibrates three tiny bones: the malleus, incus, and stapes. It then travels to your cochlea and, ultimately, to your brain.

While this is happening, the vibrations from your vocal cords propel sound directly to the cochlea. That’s why you may not recognize the way your voice sounds when you hear it on a recording. For that reason, it makes sense to record your voice first.

To identify the differences in your speaking patterns, experts recommend recording your voice in multiple scenarios, such as:

speaking to a friend
reading a book to a child
giving a business presentation

Read up on vocal training

Evidence shows that you can manipulate your voice to have more accurate pitch. There are many books, including audiobooks on vocal training, which include warmup exercises and tips. A good one to try is “Set Your Voice Free” by Roger Love with Donna Frazier, which you can find online.

Relax your voice using vocal exercises

Some vocal warmups and exercises you can use to relax your voice include:

humming
lip buzzing
tongue trills
loosening your jaw by opening your mouth wide, then gently closing it
yawning
deep breathing
gently massaging your throat to loosen tense muscles

Practice throwing your voice

It’ll also help to practice throwing your voice, or speaking from another part of your body, such as your:

diaphragm
throat
mouth and nose

Try emulating a voice you like

You may find that it helps to emulate a voice you like. To do this, make sure to listen carefully to the enunciation, tone, pitch, and timbre of that voice.

Taking care of your vocal cords

Vocal cords age just like the rest of the body. That’s why voices change over time. To keep yours healthy and optimized, try these tips:

Stay hydrated and drink plenty of warm beverages like tea.
Don’t smoke cigarettes, vape, or inhale smoke from any substance.
Reduce your alcohol intake.
Be kind to your voice by not yelling or talking loudly.
Avoid mumbling and whispering, which can also strain your vocal cords.
Keep your sinuses clear by taking medication for allergies, a stuffed nose, or for respiratory conditions, if needed.
Avoid polluted air and breathe in clean air whenever possible.

The mechanics of voice and sound

When you speak or sing, the process that creates your voice starts with your lungs. If your lung capacity is diminished, your voice may sound weak.

Your ribs, diaphragm, and abdominal muscles provide physical power to force air out of the lungs and into the trachea and larynx, which holds your vocal cords.

The air flows between your vocal cords, making them vibrate. Your voice, like all sound, is energy made by vibrating air particles. Your pitch is determined by the number of vibrations your vocal cords make. This is referred to as frequency. Fewer vibrations generate a lower pitch. More vibrations generate a higher pitch.

The vibrations propel the particles of air to continue traveling to your mouth and sinuses, where your voice acquires resonance, tone, and the uniqueness of your own particular sound. If your sinuses are clogged, your voice may acquire a nasal tone at this point in the process.

Takeaway

If you don’t like the way your voice sounds, there are several ways to change it. These include at-home vocal exercises, emulating a voice you like, working with a voice coach, and surgery.

How we reviewed this article:

SourcesHistoryHealthline has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical journals and associations. We only use quality, credible sources to ensure content accuracy and integrity. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.

Gupta R. (n.d.). The effects of weight on the voice.https://www.ohniww.org/effects-of-weight-gain-loss-voice-singing/
How we make sound. (n.d.).https://www.voicescienceworks.org/how-we-make-sound.html
Hughes S. (2013). The perception and parameters of intentional voice manipulation.https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260519655_The_Perception_and_Parameters_of_Intentional_Voice_Manipulation
Mayo Clinic Staff. (2019). Voice feminizing therapy and surgery.https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/voice-feminizing-therapy-and-surgery/about/pac-20470545
Thomas JP, et al. (2013). Feminization laryngoplasty: Assessment of surgical pitch elevation. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-013-2511-3
Zhang Z. (2016). Mechanics of human voice production and control. DOI:https://dx.doi.org/10.1121%2F1.4964509

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Medically reviewed by Debra Sullivan, Ph.D., MSN, R.N., CNE, COI — Written by Corey Whelan on April 20, 2020

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