How I Teach Singing To Surgeons, Lawyers, and CEOs, Even When They Work 80+ Hour Weeks And Have No Spare Time

Let me tell you about a student of mine. Let's call him "David."

David is a neurosurgeon. His day starts before sunrise and often ends long after sunset. He spends his hours in high-stakes, life-or-death situations where the slightest mistake has catastrophic consequences.

His schedule is a chaotic mess of on-call nights, emergency surgeries, and 80+ hour work weeks. He has a family he loves and barely gets to see. In short, David has absolutely no spare time.

And yet, for his entire life, he's had this quiet, persistent dream in the background: he's always wanted to be a good singer. Not necessarily a broadway star; but someone who can write and perform his own songs. Who can sing at weddings – or front a cover band and be proud of how he sounds.

Before & After

When David first came to my vocal academy, he was… well, let's just say he was better at surgery than singing. He was pitchy, his voice was thin, and he had no power.

But today? He sings with a power and confidence that is night and day better compared to how he was before. More than a few bands have approached him and asked him to sing for them.

I've actually taught dozens (possibly even hundreds) of "David"s in my career as a vocal coach.

Surgeons, doctors, lawyers, investment bankers, analysts, guys and gals you'd think "have no time" to dabble in any hobby beyond work. But they go for it—and get really good.

Answer: they use a different model of vocal training. Here's what I mean.

The Old Model For Vocal Training

The traditional model of learning a new skill or hobby doesn't work for people like David. The traditional model says: "Set aside an hour every day or so, and just keep grinding away at it til the skill starts to take hold." Which is great… IF you actually have an hour of spare time every day.

Which David doesn't.

For someone like David, setting aside an hour a day at the same time is not just difficult, it's utterly impossible. The hour just isn't there. Not in an 80 hour work week. David just barely has time for family… and sleep!

But here's what they fail to understand: the real problem isn't the goal. It's the model used to achieve the goal. The "spare hour per day" model is great if you have that time, but demoralizing if you don't.

The New Training Model: "Time Stacking"

My busiest students don't "find time" or even "make time" to practice. They stack time. Here's what I mean. They use the time they are already spending on other tasks… to ALSO work on singing. A simple concept. But powerful when put into practice.

Think about it. On a typical day, how much time do you spend on activities like these?

• Doing mindless chores like washing dishes or yardwork?
• Walking the dog or getting in a quick workout?
• Commuting to and from your work?
• Scrolling on your phone?

Even for very busy professionals, this can easily add up to at least 30-60 minutes a day. Time we usually fill with news radio, podcasts, or scrolling through emails; time that passes without any ultimate benefit.

This is your hidden practice time. This is your vocal studio. You just haven't been using it.

An Example

Steven, the CFO of a biomedical skincare company, has an 18 minute commute to work. He chooses to use that time to practice singing. That's 18 x 2 = 36 minutes of practice per day.

Multiply that by 5 days per week… and we see that Steven has 3 hours of intentional practice per week. That's pretty good.

But once David forms this habit… he realizes how much he enjoys vocal training. And people start commenting on how good his voice sounds. So he doubles down and starts singing scales while doing the dishes… and practicing diaphragmatic breathing during showers. Adding another 14 minutes of practice to each day.

… But there's one more missing piece of the puzzle I haven't told you about yet — which makes guys and gals like Steven far more successful with their vocal training.

The Best Kind Of Vocal Workout For Time-Stacking

This is why I designed my 30-Minute Singer program. I designed it specifically for people who don't have the luxury of practicing for an uninterrupted hour every day.

It's a workout built on the "non-negotiable" building blocks of singing—a set of core exercises that target the most important muscle groups & vocal skills.

I took a "no BS" approach and stripped out ALL unnecessary theory, ALL complex scales, and ALL feelgood fluff you'll find in many other programs. Leaving just the core exercises that build REAL vocal strength and skills, fast.

This workout doesn't require a studio. It doesn't require hours of "spare time". It just requires a way to listen to the guide tracks—and a willingness to try. Perfect for a commute, a walk, or a mindless chore.

The "Perfect" 30 Minute Vocal Workout

Ok now let's get practical. What does this 30 minute workout actually look like?

It's divided into three parts.

And if you only have a 15-minute commute… you can do parts 1 & 2 on the first half of your commute, and part 3 on your second half:

• Part 1: Humming exercise. 2 mins. Great for warming up.
• Part 2: Core vowel exercises. 13 mins. The bread and butter of learning "open throat" technique which is my secret sauce (Key: make sure you're supporting your sound correctly while doing these exercises)
• Part 3: Vowel conversion exercises. 15 mins. Helps you continue building muscle memory for open throat while also beginning to apply it to real situations & transition between vowels

That's it. You've just engaged in a world-class vocal workout before you've even arrived at your first meeting.

(For the exact exercises, broken into gender-specific audios that you can sing along to, check out 30 Minute Singer)

You Have Time For What You Make A Priority

The next time you hear yourself say, "I don't have time," I want you to challenge it. Rephrase it to be more honest: "I'm too embarrassed to start learning"; "I want to scroll on my phone more than I want to sing"; etc.

It's time to stop treating "time" as the enemy. Time is not the problem. If neurosurgeons and CFOs with 80+ hour work weeks can go from embarrassingly pitchy to shockingly good (I've seen this happen more times than I can count), so can you.

But, you have all the time you need.

Do you have the guts?

Your car can be your studio. Your kitchen can be your practice room. Your daily shower can be your warm-up. The time is there.

So what will you DO with your time?

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