Top 3 Must Do DJ Skills to Be a Pro Mixing DJ

0:00 Jonathan here, The DJ Tutor

Alright, Jonathan here, The DJ Tutor. So, first of all I've been DJing for a very, very long time. I know my stuff. Well, I know my stuff, but of course there's always more stuff to learn. Now, here are my three top must-dos if you want to be a good DJ. Now, you may agree with me or disagree with me, but if you think about it, if you really, really think about it, these three, from one to three, are undisputedly the must-dos for a DJ. In third place is mixing in phrase. In second place is mixing in time, in beat. 120 BPM, 120 BPM, not 120 BPM and 120.1 BPM. The number one is mixing in key. So let's imagine why. First of all, why those three? And why in that order? Let's imagine that you have a mix. That's in phrase. As soon as the vocals finishes in one track, the vocals start in the other track, but it's not in beat.

It's going to sound a little bit dodgy. If it's not in key, it's going to sound horrific. It's going to sound like a car crash. It's going to sound as though you've got screaming cats just like at your throat.

1:35 Let's imagine we've got a mix

Then let's imagine we've got a mix. That's in beat. Perfectly in beat, but it's not in phrase. You may still have vocals over vocals. You may have melody over melody, but it's going to be in beat. The people are going to be dancing to it and they're going to keep in time. But if it's not in key, it's going to sound terrible. It's going to sound disastrous. It's going to sound like cats are screeching and it's going to sound horrendous. Let's imagine though you have a mix. It's in beat and in phrase, so you have one track slowly drifting out and the other one slowly drifting in. In time and in phrase, but it's still not in key. It's going to sound terrible. It's going to sound like cats screeching. You imagine having a wonderful piano riff and all of a sudden you've got the drop,

Sorry, you've got the piano riff, you've got the break. You've got the build in the break with the piano in the background. Leading up to the drop, boom, to another sound from a different piano. Completely out of key. It's going to sound horrific even though it was in phrase and in beat.

2:54 Let's imagine you've got a mix that's not in phrase, not in beat

Now let's imagine you've got a mix that's not in phrase, not in beat. It's just a blend of two random tracks, but the music works. The energy works. That's going to be quite a good mix. Now let's imagine you've got a mix that's in key and it's in beat, but it's out of phrase. It's going to sound a little bit choppy, a little bit rough. You could have vocals over vocals. You could have a bit of a melody over the melody of the other track, but then it's going to sound harmonically pleasing. On the other hand, you imagine you've got a mix that's in key, in beat and in phrase. Bingo! That's what you want. So number one priority, by the way. Yes, I've just had hot chili, beg your pardon. Number one priority is in key.

Number two is make sure they're in beat. And number three, make sure they're in phrase. Hope that's a help. And if you want any more information on this, then drop me a line and I can give you a one-to-one lesson. Practice and enjoy. My email's right down there. Thank you. Practicing. Yeah, practice and enjoy. I do. Thank you.

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