I want to learn to dj - where do I start

The beauty of learning to DJ is, absolutely everyone can do it. I have taught people from 8 to 80 and most of these people had no background in music or experience of any kind. There is a way to teach people and the truth is, after running clubs and DJing every week for nearly 20 years and now teaching for the past 4 years i know what works and what doesn't and I am here to help inspire you to take the first step.

Learning to DJ does not have to be hard nor expensive, I truly believe the hardest step is simply deciding you want to and then sticking to it. I guarantee you will be surprised with how quickly you can pick it up and how much fun and addictive it can be, on so so many levels.

So, let's assume you're in, what now. Well you have some decisions to make.

Firstly are you going to go for it and buy gear and if so what kind of gear do you want to get and how much are you willing to spend, or do you want to try out using free DJ software or an app on your phone and get started today!

Choosing Gear

So how much do you need to spend to get good gear and what would I suggest? You don't have to spend a lot to get started. Even the bottom end controllers share the same basic operations as the club gear and I know loads of people that have learnt on cheap gear. Personally, if you have any intention of playing in clubs, I would go for any gear from Pioneer that reads Rekordbox as when playing in clubs the venue will most likely expects you to use USBS, and Rekordbox is the DJ software used to prepare your music for USB but also works with all Rekordbox controllers. Another advantage of using Rekordbox is, even the entry level controllers come with a full version of Rekordbox, so you can get used to all of Rekordbox's features from the start. If you have no idea how to use Rekordbox or even Serato go to the free videos on my website where I have videos on choosing the right gear, how to find and prepare you music and also software walkthrough videos on Rekordbox and Serato.

Using your computer / apps

If you are not certain wether you want to do it or not, you can 100% get started using apps, or free DJ software, in which case I'd probably lean towards Rekordbox or Serato. You can go free versions of both and if you are using an APP, I suggest DeeJay2 - I'll link them all in below. I guess the advantage of Serato Lite and Deejay2 is you can stream music straight onto the gear, so it's easy enough to get a feel for it with little to no investment up front.

I have videos coming up, on my channel, with walkthroughs on how to mix with computers and apps, so make sure you subscribe and hit the notifications bell, so you see them.

Do I need to download songs?

The next question people have is: Where do you get your tracks and how do you prepare your music? To load songs onto most DJ gear you're going to need the actual files. This means either finding them and downloading them online or you may even consider DJ pools where you pay monthly subscriptions to get unlimited downloads. When you think about it, even the streaming services charge about $10 a month and most DJ pools are around the same price, but the difference is the DJ pools allow you to download and keep the song, which means you are not relying on an internet connection, and they also give you full versions of the song with intro's and outro's which makes your songs so much easier to mix and these sites have loads of remixes, transition tracks and other DJ tools that can really bring a professional edge to your mixing. If you're into more commercial music try bpm supreme or DJ city and if you like the deeper kinds of house and some variations of house that is a little more obscure, try soundeo.com I'll like the info in below.

IN short researching and downloading songs can be so much fun and if you want more info on this check out my finding music video.

How does it all work

Lastly, how does the gear work and what will you need to learn to be able to mix super fast. This is a whole video in itself but at the end of the day you will want to learn:

1. how to import your songs into a playlist on your DJ software
2. how to load your songs onto either deck
3. how to match the BPMs of both songs and match the beats of both songs
4. how to playback your songs
5. how to mix the songs together using the volume faders on the mixer
6. and then how to control how each the song sit / play together using the EQ

Once you know how to mix, you can start adding loops and FX and this bring a real level of excitement and professionalism to your mix but I encourage you to first get the mixing process down.

If you have no idea what the mixing process is I suggest that you go to the free video training link below and you will be sent a PDF with the mixing process with a whole bunch of free videos to help you get started as a DJ.

So in short this is what you need to do. Firstly decide you want to learn. Secondly, try and download some DJ software on your computer and have a play around and from there think about what kind of gear you would like and start messing around with mixing 2 songs.