Yshai’s Journal

A teacher’s field notes — on the craft, the practice, and the living art of Middle Eastern percussion.

The Journal

These aren’t lessons, and they aren’t a textbook. They’re the things I find myself saying to students, written down — on how to practise, on the small mistakes that quietly hold a player back, and on the deeper reasons we pick up a drum at all.

Read them in any order, or wander in by subject.

Latest · Performance & Musicianship

The Breath of the Performing Arts

Every performance lives in time — so it must rise and fall. The breath of dynamics, subdivision, scale and harmony — and the one muscle worth training above all: building a climax out of any idea.

Read the essay →
Browse by subject
Practice 6 Rhythm & Language 3 Performance & Musicianship 4 Technique 4 Philosophy 6

Practice

6 notes
On Practice
Discipline Is a Skill
Not genetics — and here's the method that builds it, fifteen minutes at a time.
5 min read →
On Practice
Six Mistakes That Cost You Years
The most common traps in learning percussion — and how to avoid each one.
4 min read →
On Practice
The Invisible Roots
Fast early progress always slows into a plateau. Why the most important growth is the kind you can't see.
4 min read →
New
On Practice
Same Destination, Different Paths
Deep musicianship demands mileage — absorbed inside a culture, or built alone through the practice ceremony. The paths, the traps, and the teacher along the way.
5 min read →
New
On Practice
Choose the Right Leader for Your Path
Serious study asks for consistency; the psyche delivers a rollercoaster. Two ways to answer the conflict — and who should hold the keys.
4 min read →
New
On Practice
The Invisible Athlete
Practice doesn’t look like sport — and your muscles disagree. Five habits that keep a player’s hands healthy for decades.
4 min read →

Rhythm & Language

3 notes
The Method
Poetry Over Speed
Why phrasing, not technique, is the whole work — and what every student who chases hollow speed needs to hear.
3 min read →
New
The Method
Beyond the One
Every beat in the bar is a door. The grid, the "center of gravity," and becoming free inside a groove.
4 min read →
New
On Ghost Notes
The River That Carries the Melody
Ghost notes are the stream that turns isolated accents into a flowing phrase — the carriers, the fingering, the colour, and the golden ratio.
5 min read →

Performance & Musicianship

4 notes
New
On Stage Fright
The Danger That Isn’t There
Stage panic, and the small cracks that let the present back in — five ways to ground yourself.
4 min read →
On Expression
The Embrace
How to make your playing personal — and why a drum can tell whether you've truly arrived.
3 min read →
On Improvisation
Choosing Your First Word
The fear of the empty solo — and five things that turn improvisation into a story you want to tell.
5 min read →
New
On Listening
Hearing, and Listening
The difference between hearing and listening — and the one clear rule about how loud to play.
4 min read →

Technique

4 notes
New
The Darbuka
The Hand That Hangs Free
Five common darbuka mistakes — the locked wrist, stiff fingers, tense thumbs, a raised elbow — and the relaxed foundations that keep you fast and pain-free.
5 min read →
New
The Frame Drum
The Wrist Was Never the Engine
Six common split-hand mistakes — and the one idea that fixes most: the movement is born at the elbow.
4 min read →
The Frame Drum
The Snapping Roll
Three mistakes that cap your speed and thin your tone — and the golden exercise that fixes them.
3 min read →
Hands & Health
The Palm Never Lies
The one spot in the hand that reveals hidden tension — and how keeping it soft protects your longevity.
2 min read →

Philosophy & Inspiration

6 notes
New
On the Path
Forever a Student
The day of finally “knowing” never comes — music is infinite. On living at your own edge, the decay inside the comfort zone, and the finite committing to the infinite.
4 min read →
New
On Musicianship
The University and the Forest
Some play only from the heart; others trust only theory. Why both are half right — and how to hold both, and let the heart decide.
5 min read →
New
On Teaching
The Teacher's Responsibility
A student hands you their dream and their years — on the honesty and the generosity that trust demands.
6 min read →
On Creativity
The Tyranny of Better
Perfectionism is not a high standard — it's the endless search for a better idea, and why so much music never gets made.
4 min read →
On Creativity
The Creative Ceremony
Why waiting for inspiration is a mistake — and the choice to begin that almost all my music was built on.
4 min read →
On the Path
The Dream That Was Never Mine
On knowing who you are — and who you are not. The freedom in letting a dream go.
5 min read →