To help new DJs you avoid frustrations and struggles when learning to DJ and get gigs I have made a list of the Top 10 DJ Mistakes to avoid and I will be posting them individually in a 10 part series.
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MISTAKE #1: Trying To Teach Yourself To DJ…
Have you ever searched for or posted up questions looking for advice on learning to DJ only to find responses saying “teach yourself”…
I remember that when I started out this is the advice I got and it took me 2 years to get my mixing to the point where I could get a gig.
You’ve probably also noticed that the guys that give the advice of ‘teach yourself’ are also the guys that are proud to say that it took them 1 or 2 years to learn how to DJ… The DJs that say teach yourself are generally the DJs that struggled to get beatmatching and mixing and never went on to play any big gigs.
So why is this happening? Why do so many DJs recommend new DJs to teach themselves?
Its very simple… Read the rest of this entry »
My mom and sat me down at the dinner table and said “Sean…Why do you want to learn how to DJ? You’re wasting your time… You should be focused on school and your job”. At the same time, my friends used to make fun of me for dj mixing techno music because hip hop was cool at my school.
I didn’t listen to any of them…
I went out and spent my hard earned money on DJ Lessons (I couldn’t afford many), I bought DJ DVDs, I read disc jockey message forums, I looked up DJ tutorials online and I even followed DJs around to watch them playing in nightclubs…
Having great looking business cards just screams out a DJs professionalism to his or her clients, competitors and most importantly, the club owners and promoters. Business cards are one of the best self-promotion techniques used to get your name out there and sell yourself, and the majority of DJ’s forget all about them!
Above all, DJs like you and I don’t have to spend money on professional designers, printers and fancy paper to produce great results that score DJ gigs!
On of the biggest DJ lessons that I came across when I was learning how to DJ is that these personal and professional methods of promoting yourself as a DJ are invaluable! Anyone can make a Disc Jockey business card, but here are some rules you should follow to get great results:
1) Your Disc Jockey business card must represent your entire Djing business and DJ personality through Read the rest of this entry »
What a stupid question you might think to yourself, but in actual fact, there are a few DJ’s out there that seriously have no idea. Other DJ’s are more interested in one particular genre than others. How they get by in this business I do not know! Research is a vital part of learning how to DJ. There are a variety of ways of knowing what’s hot and what’s not right now:
Online Music Stores
I can guarantee you that local shops in your city or online stores such as Amazon will feature some of the hottest tracks around whenever you decide to look. Why? Because they look at the sales of each track and it would make sense to promote the tracks that are selling like hot cakes. Take a look at your nearest record shop and see what they have on offer. Remember – you don’t have to buy the track there and then, you are just getting inspiration for what is in and what is out. You will be visiting record shops more than your grocery store when learning how to be a DJ!
DJ Chart Shows
For the more poppy songs, I couldn’t recommend more taking a look at the charts. Chart shows are often played on the radio, and are normally a countdown of the 40 tracks with the most sales in the past 7 days. Don’t even bother looking at the charts for any entries by DJ Tiësto or Oakenfold – the charts are a view of what tracks the nation has been buying most. Read the rest of this entry »
So you want to know How To DJ! At the very least you are interested in DJing….
You have probably already asked yourself a lot of questions. When I started out I was asking similar questions:
Do I want to learn how to dj mix so I can be a party dj for my friends or do I want learn how to dj electronic music at clubs, raves and parties? Do I want to know how to dj electronic music or hip hop? Do I want to learn how to dj vinyl or learn how to dj on cds? How do I dj remixed tracks? How do I beatmatch? What gear should I choose? How do I get gigs?
I send out FREE video dj lessons pretty every few days to help new DJs like you get answers to your questions so you can get DJing quickly. Sign up for free DJ Training Videos by clicking HERE right now!
It doesn’t matter if you want to learn how to dj techno, how to dj trance, how to dj electro or any other genre of dance music… the LearnToDjFast.com video dj lessons newsletter will help you learn how to dj mix quickly!
The first frustration that DJs usually find is choosing and learning how to use dj equipment, dj software and mixing software like Ableton Live. The next challenge is learning Read the rest of this entry »
Dj Ben from Taiwan emailed me the other day letting me know that he had been inspired by all of the great information that LearnToDjFast.com has given to new DJs. In the spirit of helping out the cause, DJ Ben wrote an “DJing For Dummies” style article on getting DJ gigs and he wanted me to share it with you.
The first step to DJ idol greatness is to get gigs!
Once you have taken dj lessons and can now dj mix it is now time to go out and get gigs. It is only through such gigs that you can showcase your talents and let all your hard work come to fruition. Think about it, music lovers on their feet, dancing away to your beats. Damn, that really sounds awe inspiring. The question now is how does a new DJ like yourself get DJ gigs?
There are so many different ways to get your DJ gigs. The important thing here is to TRUST your abilities and not be afraid to contact people in the inner circle…
Hey DJ Friends, I apologize for not having posted recently on the dj training blog.
I have missed about a week from my DJIng, producing music in the studio and from sending out stuff to you in the video newsletter. If you haven’t yet signed up for the LearnToDjFast.com free DJ Lesson Videos then do so Right Now by clicking HERE!.
If you are looking to learn to dj, those dj videos are the best way to get started.
So the reason why I have had to take time off is because I have something called “Computer Eye Strain”. My right eye started twitching uncontrolably and this caused my vision to go blurry. I had to cancle a DJ gig because my doctor said that it was from straining my eyes too much from spending too much time on my computer!
Here’s what the doctor said and how you can stop this from happening:
I have created some more videos to meet the demand from new DJs that are looking for dj training.
If you aren’t currently on our video newsletter, I send out video dj lessons pretty much daily to help new DJs like you. Sign up for free DJ Training Videos by clicking HERE right now!
Instead of breaking up the videos like I do in the dj newsletter, I have decided to put them all into one 2 hour video to teach you all of the basics of DJing. If you’re just starting out, this is the info you need to get mixing quickly so you can jam with your favorite tracks and get the gigs you want.
This two hour video can be accessed by signing up for the Free Video DJ Lesson newsletter by clicking HERE now!
Last night I treated some friends and took them to the grand opening of a brand new club here in our city. Despite there being a MASSIVE line up outside of the nighclub, we all rolled right past the line.
I love getting my friends into nightclubs and hooking them up with free drinks. If you want to be able to do things like this as a DJ, sign up for free DJ Training Videos by clicking HERE right now!
After the grand opening we headed to another nightclub where Superstar DJ Joachim Garraud from France was Djing. Again, getting my crew past the massive line wasn’t an issue.
I thought it was going to be a solid night out at the nightclub where I would groove while watching the DJ and talk with djs in training with aspiring DJs at the club. I didn’t expect anything out of the ordinary.
I ended up getting BLOWN away by the DJ show that Joachim put on. The guy busted out this piano guitar (a DJ keyboard that was hung around his neck like a guitar) and started jamming out on it while he was mixing!
The crowd went nuts. Its so simple but its creative, fun and it takes DJing and DJ training to a whole other level.
There is one dj lesson from pro djs that I hear over and over again.
If you want to get all of the dj lessons that I have learned from the biggest pro DJs in the world emailed to you, sign up for free DJ Lesson Videos by clicking HERE right now!
Its funny because some DJs will think that this post contradicts another post I made a few weeks ago called Djing: Its About Your Sound where I told DJs that it is crucial to develop a sound.
A lot of DJs took that post the wrong way. They though I was saying that you had to limit your music to one sub genre to be successful as a DJ. This is not true. Yes, you have to develop your own unique sound. But your sound can consist of as many genres as you like. In fact, listening to and playing different styles of music is the best way to develop your own unique sound.
Furthermore, you will be thrown into lots of different situations as a DJ where you will be required to play different styles of music that what you would like to or what you would normally play.
There is one dj lesson from pro djs that I hear over and over again.
