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Stage 1 Your First Setup Course 1 of 5

Complete Beginner DJ Lessons

Beginner 37 lessons · 1 h 59 min

Ellaskins' own ordered beginner series, start to finish. It begins with nothing more than a controller in front of you and ends with you looping, cueing and holding two tracks together. Seven companion videos are folded in where they help.

By the end of this course you will be able to

  • Name every control on a DJ controller, CDJ and mixer, and say what it does
  • Load tracks, set a cue point and use headphones to cue properly
  • Count bars and phrases, and find the phrase in a track by ear
  • Change a track's BPM and hold two tracks in time using the pitch and jog wheel
  • Use EQ, the crossfader, hot cues, loops and effects in a simple mix

Lessons

  1. A look at a controller and CDJ turntable

    5:23

  2. A look at a DJ program layout

    Optional 2:59

    Companion video, folded in where it helps.

  3. The screen on a DJ controller - what it is for

    3:48

  4. Downloading the driver, and why you need it

    Optional 2:42

    Companion video, folded in where it helps.

  5. Where to find the music folders

    Optional 1:24

    Companion video, folded in where it helps.

  6. Loading a track

    3:08

  7. Loading a track to play on your controller

    Optional 2:14

    Companion video, folded in where it helps.

  8. Tags: key, BPM and the rest

    Optional 4:44

    Companion video, folded in where it helps.

  9. Speeding up and slowing down a track

    2:08

  10. How to count one bar in your music

    2:06

  11. How to change the BPM

    2:57

  12. What a phrase is, and how to find one

    2:47

  13. The jog wheel - what it is used for

    2:43

  14. Setting a cue point and using play

    1:38

  15. Why you set a low % on the pitch control

    2:27

  16. How and why you use the jog wheel

    4:35

  17. Low, mid and high EQ - bass, mid and top

    3:13

  18. The crossfader and the up-faders

    3:45

  19. Using the effects, and what they do

    2:47

  20. The waveform and what it is for

    1:48

  21. How to set the beat grid

    Optional 2:27

    Companion video, folded in where it helps.

  22. A simple mix using the crossfader

    4:17

  23. Headphones, and the best way to use them

    3:38

  24. Master tempo, also known as key lock

    3:17

  25. Getting your kit ready for an easy mix

    2:56

  26. A very simple practice mix

    5:05

  27. Finding a slight variation in BPM

    2:21

  28. Beatmatching practice using the jog wheel

    3:35

  29. How to tell when two tracks are not in beat

    4:14

  30. Wax on, wax off - practising how to mix

    4:47

  31. Setting different positions on the pitch

    4:41

  32. Challenging yourself on pitch position

    3:23

  33. Practising play/pause on time in a bar

    1:22

  34. Loops, cue, play/pause and pitch - what they do

    Optional 3:26

    Companion video, folded in where it helps.

  35. Hot cues, and how to use them

    3:04

  36. A simple look at loops

    3:22

  37. Effects on a DJ mixer and controller

    4:18

The stages are the way through

Below this line is the back catalogue, newest first. Useful for browsing, but it is not a course - the videos are in the order they were filmed, not the order to learn them in. Work the stages instead: each one assumes the one before it.

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