New Group · January 2027

Online Upright Frame Drum Lessons

Live group classes in upright frame drum, with students from twenty-five countries. The upright frame drum is the round frame drum played in a vertical position, held in front of the body and played with both hands. Yshai Afterman has been teaching percussion online since 2010, sixteen years of online teaching.

A new upright frame drum group starts on Sundays from 3 January 2027, from the first lesson. Complete beginners and experienced players start side by side.

Enroll for January →

Sundays, 18:00 to 19:30 (GMT+2), from 3 January 2027. Nothing is charged until 1 January.

Upright frame drum

Welcome

A Word from Yshai

A short welcome: the instruments, the method, the student portal, and the community you’d be joining.

About 90 seconds · sound on

“Online upright frame drum lessons” here doesn't mean occasional tips or isolated classes. It refers to a structured, long-term process: a comprehensive method for building the language of rhythm itself, layer by layer, over months, guided through weekly live sessions with a small, dedicated group of students from around the world.

Hear It

A taste of the playing

The Method

Three pillars. One crown.

The Conservatory's upright frame drum program is a complete arc, from foundations to musicianship, unfolding layer by layer, every concept built on the one before, through a body of original compositions written specifically for this method. It rests on three pillars, Time, Language, and Expression, that together form a complete musical understanding.

I Time
Knowing the rhythmic cycle intimately. The more deeply you inhabit a groove, the more freely you play inside it.
II Language
Technique, grouping, phrasing, composition: not patterns to copy, but tools to create with.
III Expression
Tension and release, dynamics, phrasing: the branches that make playing alive rather than correct.

The Curriculum

What you study

1
Hand technique
From the first strokes, a clean hand technique that grows together with your rhythmic language.
2
Rhythmic cycles & time
The work is rhythmic orientation: learning to feel at home in any time signature and any groove.
3
Traditional repertoire
The first year builds your technique and your rhythmic language side by side, through traditional rhythms and original compositions written for this method.
4
Phrasing & language
Not patterns to copy, but a vocabulary to think in. The upright frame drum becomes an extension of how you hear and speak musically.
5
Improvisation & ornamentation
The independence to make music genuinely your own: to invent, decorate, and respond inside any musical setting.
6
Sound, time, & expression
The deeper relationship between technique and feeling: the difference between playing correctly and playing alive.

A program of this depth has no equal anywhere online.

The Lessons

Inside a lesson

Ninety minutes, live, every week.

10 min
Warm-up
Stretches and slow technique warm-up exercises.
30 min
Technique, rhythm and independence
Systematic and creative work. It opens with homework demonstrations, always invited and never required, and each student receives the next step of every branch they are building.
10 min
Break
A short break.
30 min
Songs and composition
Real playing, not exercises. Charts written for real songs, played together, growing from easy songs and partial arrangements toward the full repertoire as the year unfolds.
10 min
The closing conversation
The deeper side of the study: ten minutes of conversation on a note from the journal, the questions behind the practice.
90 min
Live on Zoom, Weekly
A full structured immersion every week: technique, repertoire, and musicianship, with dedicated time for questions.
300+
Original Compositions
Solos, exercises, and compositions written specifically for this method, building on each other across levels.
2,000+
Live Group Lessons Taught
Seven years of teaching this method to successive cohorts of students: the depth that only repeated teaching produces.
1 : 1
Personal Feedback
Once a week, submit a video for personal feedback from Yshai, staying close to your evolution, even in a group.

Students

Students playing

Upright

Original Composition in 7

An original upright frame drum composition in 7, continuing to create beyond the course cycle.

Jonathan Hung
Upright

Malfuf Solo

Performing the Malfuf solo on upright frame drum.

Elyar Pashang
Upright

Original Composition in 7

An original upright frame drum composition, alongside Yshai.

Laura Etienne
Conservatory students learning together in a circle at the annual in-person seminar

More than lessons

You join a community, not a course

Studying the upright frame drum here means more than a weekly class. You become part of a worldwide community of dedicated students, from twenty-five countries and counting, learning the same frame-drum language together, with a calendar of shared events running alongside the curriculum.

That calendar includes an ongoing Masterclass Series with guest masters from the global percussion world, and an annual in-person Seminar where students gather to play, eat, and learn side by side.

Weekly
Live upright frame drum classes Sundays · 18:00 GMT+2 · 90 min on Zoom · from 3 January 2027
Monthly
Masterclass Series Guest masters from the global percussion world
Annual
In-person Seminar A week of music, meals, and shared practice

Inside the portal

Every upright frame drum lesson, at your fingertips

Between sessions, every upright frame drum student works inside the private Conservatory Portal: recorded lessons with notation PDFs, the guest-masterclass library, progress tracking, and an interactive rhythm library and metronome in the Practice Room.

The Conservatory Portal events feed

Events feed

The Conservatory Portal lesson player

Lesson library

The masterclass library

Masterclass series

The Practice Room

Practice room

I'm studying with Yshai on the upright style. What I love about his way of teaching is the incremental way. You learn something every week and you're challenged. So it really feels like you're learning and getting better. You also learn to create your own rhythms, and suddenly you can do things you couldn't before.

Claudia Bolleurs · Netherlands · Upright Frame Drum

Students

What students say

I have been taking online Upright Frame Drum classes with Yshai for six months and I highly recommend him as a teacher. His organizational skills and methodical teaching style have made the practice easy to follow and quite rewarding. I am very pleased with the progress I have made in such a short time and am looking forward to what the next six months brings.
Lorraine Grix · USA · Upright Frame Drum
I've really been enjoying the past 5 months learning upright frame with Yshai: the plan is so well-built, every lesson is built on top of the other and the progress is unbelievable. The lessons are super fun! Strong recommendation!
Igal Tartakovsky · Upright Frame Drum
Not all the great percussion Masters offer online classes, but fortunately Yshai is one of them. The classes are very high quality; Afterman is a very methodical teacher, with very clear objectives and a very precise and enjoyable methodology. His technique is impeccable. If you are a percussion teacher, you will find a lot of new tools to teach your students. I am very fortunate to learn with one of the best and most complete percussionists in the world.
Raul Atraides · Spain · Upright & Darbuka
I have studied three drum styles with Yshai: the riq, frame drum upright, and frame drum lap style. Yshai is an amazing musician and teacher who is passionate about helping others learn and improve their skills. His teaching method is meticulous and well-planned, taking you through everything step by step. If you are wanting to dive deeply into the art of drumming, Yshai is one of the best teachers to study with!
Liz Shaw · USA · Riqq, Upright & Lapstyle
More testimonials →
Before you enroll

A few questions, answered.

When and what time is the live class?

The new upright frame drum group meets Sundays, 18:00–19:30 (GMT+2), from 3 January 2027, and starts from the first lesson.

Do I need experience?

No. Every group welcomes complete beginners and experienced players alike.

Do I need my own drum?

Yes, a round frame drum of your own. If you don’t have one yet, the guide on how to choose a frame drum walks you through it.

How long is the program?

The full arc of the Method is normally about two years, from fundamentals to musicianship. But the choice of how long to study is yours. Some students stay one month, others continue for years. Each month you decide whether to continue.

What if I miss a lesson?

Every class is recorded and posted to the student portal within hours. You can watch on your own schedule, with full access to sheet music, the practice room interface, and lesson summaries. Missing a live session is not a problem.

How does billing work?

$155 a month. Nothing is charged when you enroll: your first payment is on 1 January, then on the 1st of each month. Cancel anytime, and if you cancel before 1 January you pay nothing. You can cancel at any time from your Stripe customer portal; access continues through the end of the paid month, no questions asked.

The price is too high for me. Can I get a discount?

Yes. Discounted places are reserved in every group for dedicated students who live in countries where the full tuition is too expensive, or who face difficult personal circumstances. Write to yafterman@gmail.com with a few words about your situation before enrolling. Every request is answered personally.

Can I switch instruments later?

Yes. If you decide partway through that another of the four instruments calls to you more, the Conservatory can transfer your enrollment to a different group at the start of any month. Talk to Yshai directly.

New Group · January 2027

$155 / month

A live 90-minute group lesson with Yshai every week

Personal feedback · recordings included · billed monthly · cancel anytime

Sundays · 18:00–19:30 GMT+2 · from 3 January

Every group stays small enough to know each other by name, moving through the method together over the year. It is never a room of strangers.

Nothing is charged until 1 January.

New to the upright frame drum, or unsure it’s the right fit? Every group welcomes complete beginners and experienced players alike. Message me or Instagram. I answer every one myself.

Free · 5 Days · Any Drum

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Questions? Message Yshai