A leading voice in international percussion. Performer, composer, recording artist, and one of the most sought-after Middle Eastern percussion teachers in the world.
Teaching online since 2010 · Students in 40+ countries
Yshai Afterman is a leading voice in the international percussion world. Mastering Middle Eastern hand drums, he has toured extensively and given masterclasses all over the world alongside countless concerts with some of the region's top artists.
A composer and singer-songwriter, Yshai released two albums — A Line From Here to Nowhere (2017) and Naomi (2019) — both acclaimed for their depth and originality. His percussion teacher is Zohar Fresco, under whom he studied between 2007 and 2009. He also studied advanced rhythmology under Mark Moshayev, drumset under Avi Diamond, and classical piano under Natalia Blumenfeld.
He studied dramatic arts at the Nissan Native Acting Studio in Tel Aviv (2005–2008) — a study he credits with shaping his entire artistic approach to music.
Teaching online since 2010, Yshai has built what students and educators consistently describe as the most methodical and complete teaching available for these instruments anywhere in the world. The group lesson methodology — developed over years of intensive composition and design — has no equivalent online. Students who arrive having studied elsewhere tend to discover this quickly: the depth, the system, the musical thinking behind it are unlike anything else in this field.
More than a decade of online teaching, hundreds of students, and a methodology built on the same rigour Yshai brings to his own practice.
Active students studying across four instruments, with alumni in over 40 countries. Many have studied with Yshai for multiple years.
Over seventeen hundred live group lessons taught since 2021, across all four instrument groups — every one documented and recorded.
Yshai was teaching online long before it became the norm — making him one of the most experienced online percussion educators in the world.
Formal training in theatre and performance informs everything — the way Yshai communicates, holds a room, and brings music to life on stage and in the classroom.
Students from Japan, Germany, the USA, Brazil, Spain, France, Turkey, India, Taiwan, and many more — a truly international community of percussionists.
A working performer with hundreds of concerts locally and internationally — the stage experience that informs every aspect of his teaching.
Each of these companies represents the highest standard in their field.
"I can honestly say I've never encountered a more thoughtful or effective approach to rhythmic fundamentals. Yshai is a master teacher and a true artist of the drum."Yoseph Goldman — USA · Lapstyle Frame Drum
