FAQ

We are located in Longueuil, near Taschereau boulevard and the 116.

The address is 1830 rue King, Longueuil (Saint-Hubert), J4T 1Y9 and the business hours are from 11am to 10pm, Sunday to Friday (by appointment only).

Louis’s rate is 60$ for a half-hour (120$/h). In general, a half-hour is optimal for most people, because there is no waste of time. If you would feel like this rate is high, keep in mind that Louis has been taking private lessons for years, twice a week, with internationally renowned vocal coaches, such as Dave Stroud and Ron Anderson, whose rates vary between 300$ to 500$ per hour! Also, Louis can obtain result much faster than most coaches in Montreal, so you will see this is a great value.

Hearing a note and actually reproducing that note are two different tasks. You may hear the pitch correctly (brain) but if the physical coordination (sound production) is off, then the pitch will also be off. The vocal cords need to co-ordinate in the right way so they can vibrate at the correct pitch. Certain factors may prevent this from happening they include an abnormally raised larynx or the lack of appropriate vocal cord closure and breath control.

The more you practice, the better your sound production will become and in turn the more likely you will be able to produce the correct notes.

Very seldom is that true.  We all have our strengths and weaknesses when it comes to singing.  Some people may need to start with pitch and rhythm before working on their vocal technique, others may find the act of singing easy but have trouble keeping in rhythm. Learning to sing is like learning to type; everyone can learn to type but some people will learn to type much faster than others and with more than two fingers.  The real question is “Why are you singing?”   Hopefully the answer is “Because it makes me feel good” because in this frame of mind you will do the required work to progress and attain your goals. Singing is an amazing experience and a fulfilling way to express your creative self.

There is only one way to know if a coach is right for you: The results you get with your voice.

This is the one and only way! Even if a coach has 40 years of experience, this doesn’t prove anything, maybe he/she is just really nice, very convincing or in the worst case, plays with people’s weaknesses or insecurities. Likewise, someone with a post-doctorate in voice studies might be able to name you every single muscle in your throat, but if he can’t get your voice any better, he is wasting your time. Maybe this coach can sing better than Céline, but is born with a rare gift and has no idea how to transfer it to you.

Obviously, before blaming your coach, you also need to make sure that you did your own work, which is to practice on a regular basis (ideally daily) the exercises you were assigned. Also, it is very important to record your voice, because changes happen over time and you might not notice them.

Unfortunately, some singing coaches will use vague imagery to represent physical sensations that are their own when they sing. However, for another singer, those images might not correspond to the same sensations. Therefore, in most cases, they are inefficient and can even end up causing frustrations.

In our case, we try to avoid them most of the time, and instead prefer to use exercises that directly produce the sensation we want to create in the singer. For example, instead of saying “sing it in the mask”, we could give a scale with the sound “Nay” which will give the same result, but avoids the other interpretations.

Louis will be happy to answer any other question, you can reach him by e-mail:

louis@vocalizeu.com