DJing is one loop repeated for every track: choose the next track, cue it in your headphones, match its tempo to the one playing, start it at the beginning of a phrase, and move from one to the other with the faders and EQ. A two-channel controller, a laptop with the free version of its DJ software, headphones and speakers are enough to start learning it.
This page is the overview. Each step links to the tutorial that covers it in full.
What you need to start
- A controller. Two decks and a mixer in one unit, connected to a laptop. The Pioneer DJ DDJ-FLX4 is the first pick in the best DJ controllers for beginners, and it runs rekordbox and Serato DJ Lite free. If you already own turntables or CDJs, you need a mixer instead; DJ controller vs DJ mixer explains the difference.
- DJ software. Start with the software your controller is made for. Serato DJ Lite, rekordbox, DJUCED and djay all have free versions, and Mixxx is free outright; the best DJ software compares them, and Serato or rekordbox covers the two most common.
- Headphones. You hear the next track in them before the crowd does; see why DJs wear headphones and the best DJ headphones.
- Speakers. Powered speakers or studio monitors connect to the controller's master output, since a controller like the FLX4 has its own sound card; see the best studio monitors for home DJs.
- Music. Download stores sell tracks as files you keep, a DJ pool gives a subscription to DJ-ready versions, and some artists give tracks away legally (free DJ music downloads). Streaming inside DJ software is fine for practice, but Spotify, for one, limits it to personal use, as DJing with Spotify explains.
Before you mix, let the software analyse your tracks. Analysis finds each track's BPM and key and lays a beatgrid over it, and sync, loops and key matching all depend on it; see what a beatgrid is and, for rekordbox, how to organise your music.
The loop
1. Choose the next track
Pick a track that can follow the one playing. For a blend, Native Instruments' guide to DJ transitions suggests tracks within about five BPM of each other. A compatible key keeps the melodies from clashing: how to mix in key shows how to read your software's key codes. How long to stay on the current track depends on the slot and the room; see how long a DJ should play a song for.
2. Cue it in your headphones
Load the track on the other deck, keep its channel fader down, and press that channel's headphone CUE button so it plays only in your headphones. Find its first downbeat and set a cue point there, so you can start it on the beat. CUE button vs hot cues explains both kinds of cue point.
3. Match the tempo
Start the cued track on a downbeat of the playing one, then move its tempo fader until the kicks stop drifting apart, and nudge the jog wheel to pull them back into line. How to beatmatch takes you through it by ear, and jog wheels covers the nudge. The sync button can match the tempo for you from the beatgrid, but only as well as the grid is set, and it leaves the rest of the loop to you.
4. Line up the phrases
Most dance music has four beats to a bar and is arranged in eight-bar sections, per Native Instruments. Count the bars of the playing track and start the next one at the start of a section, so both change section at the same moment. The DJ transitions guide shows how to count phrases and how rekordbox and Traktor can mark them for you.
5. Make the transition
Bring the new track in and the old one out. The five basic transitions are the fade, the cut, the beatmatched blend, the bass swap and the filter fade, all in the DJ transitions guide. Long blends usually use the channel faders and quick cuts the crossfader; see what a crossfader is for setting its curve. Swap the bass with the EQ so two kick drums don't play at full level together, and keep the meters out of the red (clipping and redlining).
6. Repeat
The new track is now the one playing. Go back to step 1 while it runs.
Record your practice
Recording your mixes lets you hear the transitions from the listener's side, and a recorded mix is something to send out.
- rekordbox: in Performance mode, click the record button in the global section at the top of the screen to open the recording panel, choose Master Out as the source, set the level so the meter stays out of the red, and click record. Recordings are WAV files, kept under Recordings in the browser's tree view. The rekordbox 7 manual notes that recording may not be available on every subscription plan or with every piece of hardware.
- Serato DJ Pro: click REC to open the Recording panel, set the record input source to Mix, check the level on a loud section, and press REC in the panel. Name the file and click Save. Recordings are 24-bit by default and go to the _Serato_ Recording folder in your Music folder, per Serato's recording guide.
To publish a mix, SoundCloud vs Mixcloud covers which of the two lets a mix of other people's records stay up, and livestreaming DJ sets covers which platforms license DJ streams.
Where to go next
- A genre. House, techno, dubstep and disco each have their own tutorial.
- Scratching. How to scratch starts from the baby scratch.
- Your software. rekordbox tips, Serato DJ tips and getting started with Traktor.
- Club gear. Booths are built around separate players and a club mixer; see what a CDJ is and what a DJ booth is.
- Lessons. The best online DJ courses guide compares structured lessons.
How this page is made
This page is the starting point for the site's tutorials, and each step summarises the linked guide, where every source is named and linked. The tempo and phrasing figures come from Native Instruments' guide to DJ transitions by Sara Simms (February 2024), the recording steps from AlphaTheta's rekordbox 7 manual and Serato's support article on recording, all read on 14 October 2026. Menu names follow the current software and can change between versions. The earlier version of this page had product descriptions copied from makers' marketing and a ranking of DJ software that was out of date; those are gone, and the buying guides linked above cover the gear. The methodology explains how the site works.
