Learn To DJ 

How to Mix for Beginners

FIRST BASIC STEPS 

Start Playing Some Music

1. First thing to do is remove the rubber mat that comes with your turntable and replace it with a DJ slipmat. Don't have a pair of slipmats yet? Over the many years I've been doing this, I've found that these dj slipmats have worked the best for me. The purpose of slipmats is to let the vinyl record "slip" over the turntable's platter, so you can control the record with your hand and still let the turntable keep spinning smoothly underneath.
2. Be sure your DJ needle and the turntable's Tone Arm are adjusted correctly. Follow the instructions that came with your DJ needles, or check out our section on How to Balance a Tonearm. Before Ortofons or Shures, DJ's glued or taped pennies on the cartridge shell to ensure that the needle stayed in place. But too much weight can damage the needles and wear out the vinyl (sometimes called "cue burn"), so don't listen to anyone that tells you to do that.
3. Next, listen to the song you want to "cue up" (the song you want to start playing) through your headphones only. The DJ mixer volume fader should be in the down position, so that the song is only playing into your headphones, not through the stereo speakers. Start the turntable and using your hand, spin the record around until you find the first drum note or "downbeat". You should not be pushing down on the record so hard that the platter stops moving. The turntable platter should freely move underneath the slipmat. Again, the slipmat will allow the turntable to continue rotating as you hold the record.
   
   This is also a good reason you should own a direct drive turntable, not a belt drive. Belt drive turntables will get damaged when you push down too hard on the platter. Direct drive turntables are more resilient with their more powerful motor. You'll have an easier time learning how to mix on a direct drive turntable. Check out my DJ Turntable Reviews for more information.
4. When you are ready to start the track, just release the vinyl at the first drum beat. While you do that, move the volume fader on your DJ Mixer to the up position in a fast smooth motion. As you get better at this, you will notice that if you slightly push the vinyl as you release it, you can drop the beat very accurately. To learn how to mix the beat correctly, you must drop the first beat exactly on the beat of the song that's ending and then adjust the speed with the turntable's pitch fader adjustment.

Calculate BPM (Beats Per Minute) 

Helps You Learn How To Mix

Many of today's DJ mixers and some DJ CD players can calculate a track's BPM for you on a digital readout. If you don't have equipment that does that for you, an easy way to find the BPM of a song is as follows:

Starting with the first drum beat, start a stopwatch and count the numbers of bass drum beats that occur in one minute. If you counted 120 beats in one minute, there you go. The BMP of the track is 120. You should write this number on your record label or cd for quick reference. As a rule, most hip hop songs are under 115, most house songs are over 115, and most trance and techno songs are over 130 BPM. Drum-n-Bass and Jungle tends to be twice the BPM of hip hop tracks (160 to 200+ bpm).

Knowing how to calculate BPM will help you learn to DJ faster.

Time to Start Mixing the 2nd Song 

Next Step in Learning to DJ

While you are playing one track through the speakers (TRACK #A), get the next track ready
(TRACK #B) to mix into TRACK #A by cueing it up in your headphones. I highly recommend getting 2 copies of the same song to use when you first start out. It will make it easier for you to learn how to mix. Try and set the pitch fader for both turntables to zero for now.

Cueing up the next track means finding the first beat on the record. To do that, place your DJ needle on the outside edge of TRACK #B. (Make sure your mixer's "cue" button or switch is ON for TRACK #B, but OFF for TRACK #A).

With the turntable off, put your hand on the stopped record and move it forward (or back) until you hear that first beat in your headphones. Once you've found it, you can turn the turntable on while you continue to lightly put a few fingers on TRACK #B. The record should stay still, with the platter spinning underneath it.

Now the trick is releasing TRACK #B in time with the currently playing TRACK #A.

You want to line up the drum beats so they are in time with each other. Because hopefully you are using two of the same song, you shouldn't have to adjust the pitch fader for now. If the songs are falling out of line, it means you didn't release the track at the right time. Keep practicing until you get it right. Learning to DJ isn't easy. I can take a lot of practice to learn to mix.

When the beats are matched, place the other hand on the mixer and gradually slide the crossfader so that Track #A's volume declines and Track #B's volume increases. When the mix is finished and Track #B is now the only song playing through the main speakers, be sure that the new song's volume is exactly at the volume of the previous song.

If you don't want to use the same 2 copies when learning how to mix, try and find two tracks that have a BPM (beats per minute) value that are similar. Like within 5 BPM of each other. For an example, that's like a 120 BPM track and a 125 BPM track. As you get better at beatmatching, you can experiment with a larger difference in BPMs.

Other Helpful Topics: 

DJ Tips

Advanced DJ Tips & Tricks

DJ Equipment Guide

DJ Equipment reviews from the Pros.

DJ Gigs

Learn how to land more DJ gigs.

Party Promotions

Start to promote and throw your own events.

DJ Blog

Cool blog for DJs.

TYPICAL SONG CONSTRUCTION 

Important for Learning To DJ

INTRO The Intro may begin with drum beats and gradually progress as instruments are added and the melody may be introduced. Begin mixing into the song here by cueing on the first down-beat (typically the first note of a 32-beat segment).

POST The "post" is a radio term. It's usually the part of the song where the vocals kick-in the first verse. It's where you want to end your mix (and be completely out of the last song).

VERSE 1 The first verse is the first vocal segment. It may be 64, 96, or 128 beats long. Do not mix (or scratch) over this segment.

CHORUS (aka the "hook") Includes the melody (the part you hum along to). It usually is the subject of the song (like love, a girl's name, the name of a dance, etc.). Like the verse, DJ's generally do not mix (or scratch) over this segment.

VERSE 2 The second verse is the second vocal segment. It will most likely be the same length as the first verse.

CHORUS Repeats the same exact melody and lyrics as the first chorus.

SOLO/EFFECT It may be a vocal solo, keyboard solo, break down/drop, or nothing at all. In the 70's, a guitar solo would go here. DJ's generally do not mix out of the song here.

VERSE 3 The third verse is the third vocal segment (In many cases, the words are more intense than the other verses).

CHORUS Repeats the same exact melody and lyrics as the first chorus.

BREAK TO END/OUTRO The outro segment is when the song breaks down into simple beats so that you can begin mixing out of the song. It will most likely resemble the length of the intro. As the outro breaks down, it can be characterized as a reverse copy of the intro. Unlike the "break," the "outro" is the last opportunity to beat mix out of a song.

Did You Enjoy My Lens? 

Gimmie Some Love!

Add DJs: How To Mix to your favorites by clicking HERE

Rate me at the top of the page too!

Your Thoughts? 

------------------------------------------------------

Rock_The_Ice Great lens! 5* =] Posted September 24, 2008

nytclubber awesome lens! it's very informative for every DJ wannabe! lol. keep it up! Posted September 14, 2008

RyanRE Sweet DJ Lens Amber. I clearly qualify and a beginner. I play bass guitar and love music, but I am no DJ. Nice work on this lens ***** to ya! Posted March 22, 2008