DJ 101 for Absolute Beginner: Feeling Overwhelmed!

**Deejaesnafu** · 01-11-2015, 08:13 PM

Seriously tho, if u practice first mixing the same song into itself, for an hour, you will learn half the concept.

And use the jog wheels on that s4 to begin with, I believe the physical mechanics of that is important to grasp at first. Keep them both running... Stay off the stop/ start button.

U don't need to pay to learn this

**Scribbl3** · 01-12-2015, 01:46 PM

I wish I'd had these courses when I started DJing. It might have helped with the learning curve.

One thing I would recommend is to find a mentor. Without my mentors I wouldn't have the skill set I have today.

**Kwal** · 01-12-2015, 01:50 PM

I would start by finding a friend or someone who knows what they're doing. Do you have any friends who DJ?

**Chris Lange** · 01-12-2015, 04:19 PM

Study some basic music theory...understanding phrasing and harmonic scales is, in my opinion, the first thing you should learn, before beatmatching. There's not much point in beatmatching tracks together that are in clashing keys, wrong phrases, and one beat out of phase. Knowing how your music is built means you can deconstruct your tracks in your head much more effectively.

Do NOT just rely on auto detect for your keys, learn to identify a major/minor key by its triads and scale.

Beatmatching is basically a strictly technical endeavor, knowing how to traverse harmonies and melody and steer the emotive direction of the mix is, for me, the creative part.

**Eliot Han** · 01-12-2015, 06:02 PM

Originally Posted by ImNoDJ

Alternatively just dig for music you like, read the traktor manual, and then practice 3 hours a day. You learn DJing by doing.

Dont be afraid to embrace being a noob and not knowing anything. Dont be afraid that your mixes suck and you have no timing yet. Embrace the journey and practice practice practice.

Also ... go out to events that you like the music at. Take notes on how someone does a transition or how certain songs blend together. Experience how the audience reacts to the song selections.

**Deejaesnafu** · 01-12-2015, 07:09 PM

Originally Posted by Chris Lange

Study some basic music theory...understanding phrasing and harmonic scales is, in my opinion, the first thing you should learn, before beatmatching. There's not much point in beatmatching tracks together that are in clashing keys, wrong phrases, and one beat out of phase. Knowing how your music is built means you can deconstruct your tracks in your head much more effectively.

Do NOT just rely on auto detect for your keys, learn to identify a major/minor key by its triads and scale.

Beatmatching is basically a strictly technical endeavor, knowing how to traverse harmonies and melody and steer the emotive direction of the mix is, for me, the creative part.

while this is sound advice, i think its bad advice for someone trying to learn to mix since what you are suggesting is more complicated than learning to mix, which adds a bigger hurtle, which will actually take them farther from the initial goal. no offense meant here, music theory is always great to learn, but sometimes it can scare people away from more simple ways of learning.
im sure some will disagree with me, but im sure if i tried to learn to identify scales and triads , and read music etc, before i learned to beatmatch , i would have given up DJing in the process.