Training Your Ears: Tools for Sharpening Your Perceptual Voice Evaluation Skills
In a recent episode of Yap Sesh, we talked about some of the most formative tools that shaped us during our training as voice clinicians. One skill we both kept coming back to? Learning to really listen—developing an ear for the nuanced qualities in the voices we hear and becoming confident in documenting those perceptions. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to deepen your perceptual accuracy, here are two resources that can help you refine your clinical ear and build stronger documentation skills.
1. Perceptual Voice Qualities Database (PVQD)
Created through funding from The Voice Foundation, this free, downloadable database offers nearly 300 standardized voice samples that have been rated by experienced clinicians. The recordings include sustained vowels and CAPE-V sentences—all captured under consistent, clinical conditions.
What makes this resource invaluable is the ability to compare your own auditory-perceptual judgments with those of trained raters. Using both the CAPE-V (2017) and the GRBAS scale, this kind of calibration can help you build consistency when listening to different voice qualities, expand your awareness of vocal quality categories, and ultimately, write more accurate and precise documentation.
2. Voice Disorders: Simulations with CAPE-V
Looking for a more immersive experience? This simulation tool from the University of Wisconsin allows you to complete full CAPE-V ratings on 45 different cases—each with detailed case histories and a variety of vocal tasks including sustained vowels, sentence-level speech, and conversational speech.
The ratings are divided into nine different simulation groups categorized to help training your perception of qualities like roughness, nasality, pitch across various voice disorders and systemic neurological disease.
It’s a great way to practice scoring across all six CAPE-V parameters (like roughness, breathiness, and strain) and reflect on how patient history or recording quality may influence your perception. The discussion questions attached to each case group encourage thoughtful self-assessment and class dialogue.
Conclusion
Both of these tools can help bridge the gap between what we hear and what we say in our documentation. They not only sharpen our perceptual skills, but also empower us as voice clinicians to advocate for clients with stronger, evidence-backed descriptions.
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