My drum lessons with Yousef are my favorite part of the week. I feel so fortunate to be able to learn from such a gifted musician whose inclusive, kind, and careful instruction has helped me to quickly become a more confident drummer. Yousef understands how to respond my questions, gently guides me to new challenges, and is so encouraging that I feel supported every step of the way. Their balanced approach includes just the right amount of music theory, exercises to help me grow dexterity, and most of all, lots and lots of music. Although I am an adult beginner (and most likely not the fastest learner :)), I have watched Yousef interact effortlessly with students of all ages going above and beyond regular lessons. Since Yousef is an active (and truly inspiring!) musician, students have the chance to see him play and grow their understanding of what performances actually look like. Simply put, with Yousef, you get the whole package - awesome instruction, community connection, and most of all JOY!

Yousef is an outstanding drum teacher! Our son has been taking private lessons with Yousef for six months and has truly thrived under their personalized and flexible one-on-one teaching style. Yousef provides a well-balanced mix of structured rhythm and technique practice along with opportunities to learn student-selected songs.

Beyond individualized instruction, Yousef also offers regular group jam sessions, rehearsals, and multiple public performance opportunities throughout the year—all of which are incredibly valuable for developing musicians.

We highly recommend Yousef to anyone seeking a supportive, skilled, and engaging drum teacher!

I highly recommend Yousef Shami for drum (and other musical) lessons. Yousef is an excellent teacher for students of any age. As an older student, and someone who had never played a musical instrument before, I was looking for someone who is kind, patient, flexible, understanding and motivating. They check all the boxes! Yousef is highly knowledgeable in music theory and is an excellent musician. They really listen, and prioritize what I want to accomplish as a student. Lessons can be either in-person or in an online format. It’s never too late (or too early) to pick up those sticks!

Yousef is an amazing teacher. They are patient, skilled, and knowledgeable. They are also very flexible and accommodating and the prices are very affordable which is really great for a busy college student like me. I was taking lessons with Yousef last summer and during that time they were helping me prepare for one of their student recitals. I ended up needing to take a pause on lessons, but Yousef was still willing to let me perform. If you are looking for an understanding and kind teacher to help you discover your strengths and weaknesses and overall help you grow and reach your goals, you can’t go wrong with Yousef! A very safe space for any aspiring musician :)

I'm completely new to playing music and have been working with Yousef for almost a year now and it has been wonderful. They are flexible, have good prices, and are patient and non-judgmental (whether it be for my lack of practice one week or when it takes a while to get a rudiment right). They are encouraging and super helpful - even helped review the acoustic kits I was considering purchasing every week or so, so I felt confident that I wasn't over-paying for a poor quality kit. And when I finally received my new kit, they came to my place to help me fix my set-up, explaining the purposes and benefits of each tweak we were making (which was a lot considering I had no idea what I was doing! haha). The regular recitals give me a goal to work towards as well, helping me stay committed. With Yousef currently in multiple bands and playing live sets as well, I feel like I'm getting quality real-world advice and recommendations. As a queer person myself, it also feels nice to be working with another person in the community. Overall, I would recommend Yousef's lessons! I think you'll enjoy them a well. :)

yousef is an awesome music teacher. patient, curious, supportive, and kind. yousef has been teaching me how to use DAWs and record music at home, which has been challenging for me on my own, but with yousef’s support, i have made a huge amount of progress. i highly recommend yousef to anyone interested in learning about music theory and home recording.

Patient, kind, helpful, able to provide the meaningful connection necessary between student and teacher for the student to thrive. Yousef has been our child's teacher for a year and last week asked me if they could work with Yousef for 3 hours each week.

My son has been taking drum lessons with Yousef for six months. At first , my son was on the fence about drum lessons. But now with several months of Yousef’s guidance and instruction, his interest has improved significantly. I find him drumming at home on his own.
Yousef let him work on the songs he’s interested in and still managed to introduce concepts like reading music, rhythm, and technique.. Yousef is structured yet flexible. He has an entire curriculum outlined as welll as digital resources for those who like more formal structure. He gives the kids homework each week. However, he isn’t too rigid for the younger kids and allows for some flexibility in their learning style.
If you or your child has an interest in drums/percussion give Yousef a try!

Yousef is an amazing teacher! My son is not only new to drumming but new to all instruments! Yousef is incredibly supportive, patient, knowledgeable, and skilled. My son loves going to his lessons and I am so thankful! I highly recommend Yousef!

Yousef has been an excellent teacher for my young son. He knows his stuff, is effective teacher with great patience. I fully recommend him.