Structure for DJ Lessons.

DJ Life & Community General Discussion
1

Structure for DJ Lessons.

Good Day all.

I am in the Military and as such run club nights, events and general get togethers for the base i am on. Any particular section (MT, Armoury, Flying Sqns etc) generally have their own bar as it’s good for morale, funding for their section etc.

Our bar runs the best bar on the camp by far. A couple of our lads run a cheap (Read- extraordinarily cheap!) bar and i provide the Music with my sound-system and DJ kit/Lasers/camo nets. It’s a good setup and regularly draws in a large number.

I’ve been asked a lot recently by people who would like Lessons in DJ’ing. Instead of Hamfisting a DJ lesson i would like to construct a lesson plan and course program covering about 4 weeks total.

I have a good sound system and equipment to cover a lot of bases in the basics of beatmatching, phrase matching and use of effects as well the use of the various different mediums available.

What i would like from the more experienced members amongst you is a structure to a properly formed DJ lesson. What would you consider vital points to project to someone who hasn’t DJ’ed before? How would this be formatted and presented?

I am extremely proficient in the instruction of my military duties. As such i like getting things right the first time and would like some input from people who are more experienced from the forum to highlight some things that would seem pertinent/Vital to constructing DJ lessons from scratch. I can format these inputs into a lesson plan to project to the people who want to learn to mix etc

Lastly. There is no money changing hands here so it’s not a factor! A few free beers is my only payment from these guys/gals and thats all i ask for. I love mixing and DJ’ing for the atmosphere and vibe it creates, rather than the science people apply to it far too often these days. To that end i just want to teach people the basics of mixing and having a laugh whilst doing it.

Any and all help appreciated.

2

I would base the lesson plans off “How to DJ Right” if it were me, maybe adding some of the newer things you can do incorpoating maschine (if that fits your style).

3

The starting point for me wouldn’t even involve the equipment, it would just be about the music and how it’s structured; beats, bars, phrases, etc.

4

I have taught similar classes to local DJs to “fill in the gaps.” So, I always start from the ground up and some of this may be review for them.

PA System Basics:

IF they will have ANY responsibilities for setting up, or even turning on the sound system… I would begin with an overview of the PA system. Basic interconnection of the music source, mixer, effects, amps, and cabinets. The different cable, the different connections, how to test and diagnose common problems. Even a read through of the “Troubleshooting” section of the manual would be helpful. Include something on setting up gain structure, and cover ALL the “under the table” controls that they might need to alter or check. Include a discussion of how to make common connections from a CD player, or stereo receiver, or an iPhone, or a laptop into the PA system.

Getting Music:

Talk about obtaining and processing music. If original CDs or vinyl are what is used, you may be able to stop there. Maybe mention something about cleaning and storage. If a laptop will be used, I would mention wav, mp3 (including bitrates), FLAC, and any other formats of interest. Walk them trough ripping CDs, tagging, setting a gain level, setting bpm, gridding (as appropriate), and burning “mix CDs”. Talk about reliable places to purchase digital music. Talk about music management strategies, the use of tags, playlists, smart playlist (from iTunes), etc. Talk about backups of a digital music library!!!

Have them go process some of their music using this new information. If CD based, they need to get the bpm of several dozen tracks. If computer, they should “process” several dozen tracks and update the tags to include all the necessary information.

Talk about common music editing tools to trim long intros, change bpm, build in loop-able sections for easier beatmixing, etc. Audacity is all that is needed.

General Music Theory:

Talk about general music structure, 4/4 time, 8 bar phrases, counting beats, counting bpm, etc. Discuss general “programming” techniques that are appropriate for assembling a larger set for your audience and typical genres. If you are able, talk about key signature in music and introduce some ideas about harmonic mixing.

DJ Basics:

Introduce the theory of beatmixing. Show them the “Five basic transitions” techniques Ean discusses in this video:

Introduce the “DJ controls” in the booth again. At a minimum, discuss the mixer and player controls. Demonstrate the use of the up faders, channel gains, cross fader (including channel assignments), the 3-band EQ and filter (if available). Add in any other controls that are available in the actual setup. Do this with actual demonstrations of how that changes the sound in the room.

MC Basics:

If appropriate, talk about basic microphone technique, how to hold and use a microphone and make announcements. Practice using the “radio announcer voice” and then avoiding the “radio announcer voice.” Have everyone take some TV commercial or radio ad or movie trailer they like, and have them re-create it as a method to practice.

Practice:

The remainder of the time I would spend on the “mechanics” of DJing…hands on practice of assembling and playing a set, beatmixing (if needed), using loops to make transitions easier. Have them prep and preform a 5 song routine in 10 minutes (it forces some mixing or cutting the songs short).

5

Stand in front of your decks controller.

Imagine you don’t know HOW to DJ.

Then, start to DJ.

Write down absolutely EVERYTHING that you do (1), that someone that DOESN’T know how to DJ wouldn’t know how to do.

There’s your lesson plan right there! Expand/explain each step that you wrote down in (1) in language that a non-DJ could understand.

6

This! Teach them how to listen to music first.

7

i show them the autobahn scratch if they can’t do it there’s no hope…. and if they can, i move to tazers and prizms :stuck_out_tongue:

8

this

9

Cheers guys, some good stuff to work with here. I’m drawing up a plan atm. :thumbsup:

10

This sounds like good stuff to me although I’d put PA basic and getting music last or maybe not at all. I think most people already have music collections, although a brief blurb on getting extended versions for DJ’ing might be helpful. Also, I think knowing about a PA system is not something someone needs until well AFTER they’ve put in a lot of hours.

11

I did start the section on the PA system with “…IF they will have ANY responsibilities for setting up, or even turning on the sound system…” I am not sure why there is such resistance to future DJs understanding how to hook up and turn on their equipment.

This is from a larger class I teach for mobile DJs, who are setting up and tearing down PA systems at every gig. The OPs description of the on-base club leads me to think that at least some people in the class will need to setup/install a PA system in their particular club.

I did not once mention “volt meter,” or “RMS,” or “Ohm’s Law,” or “balanced -v- unbalanced,” or “unity gain” in the description of topics to cover. I did mention reading the troubleshooting section of the manual for the gear. I also hinted at knowing the difference between RCA, mic, and speaker cables. Knowing how to attach a sound interface or CDJ or 1200 to a mixer is hardly out of scope for a first time DJ (e.g. “What is the difference between a ‘Line’ and ‘Phono’ input? Which one should be used for an iPhone?”).

12

I guess I envisioned him teaching too a bunch of I-want-to-go-back-to-the-barracks-and-spin type guys instead of i-want-to-immediately-get-in-the-box-at-the-club-with-my-own-gear. Wedding/Mobile DJs seem to fall into a hole in between: bad ones can buy gear and go out and gig, but the good ones still need to put in the practice in the bedroom first where a knowledge of the difference between speakon and XLR is probably a waste of time when you’re constrained to a 4 week class.

13

I didn’t consider the soundsystem/ PA setup side of things to much depth, but now i think about it, it’s definitely worth going over in detail. If anything just hammer home the importance of headroom!

14

That should be WAY down the line, mate. You want to do all the fun stuff first, to keep them interested.

Once they’ve learned the basics, they’ve actually have the appetite to learn about stuff like PA systems/headroom, etc… But if you introduce subjects like that too early on, the guys will certainly be bored by it…

15

When it comes to teaching people. I don’t do long sessions. 45 minutes at a time is lots. Focus on one thing each time.

I generally teach beatmatching & their way around the mixer first, then phrasing & counting. Once people have that down I have let them do a solid 30 minute jam and just throw them feedback after the fact of parts they can focus on.

The craft takes skill, nobody is going to be the best right away but if you focus on improvements everytime you get together & give them genuine feedback.. it will go a long way.

Everyone knows different things, it is alot easier on a person if they are playing music they are farmiliar with, so I always suggest that people bring their own music if they can.

Where I stand I have taught 4 people how to DJ and they now hold residency’s and / or play out regularly.

16

I really like the starting with the PA gear, just because once you’ve trained them on that they can set up. Plus, that’s a very straightforward thing that military folks will be able to pick up almost instantly. (plug this in here, not here, turn this on first or bad things happen, etc). This is also how I got into my ‘crew’ when I started, and was a good building block.

Once you have that, then you can move into music, and really use their own experiences as to what they like compared to what they don’t like when they go out. I know for me, being someone that got into DJing before I started going to bars, I was very prejudiced to what I wanted at first, and couldn’t figure out why others didn’t like that.

If these guys are already going to bars, they have a good idea of what works, if only because if it works for them it’s probably working for the rest of the crowd. They just have to be able to use that superb situational awareness they already have, but now just to read a crowd for their enjoyment.

Other than that, soundinmotiondj’s response is probably more than I could have ever come up with, and seems perfect.

17

Bump.

Any progress to report?

18

I do indeed!

Unfortunately due to busybody politics on the base and a slight misdameanor our bar had, the space where i could do such lessons is currently off limits.

Im currently digging for some money from the station fund to get their bar squared away as it’s poor condition and has no booth as such. I can transport my kit there each week, but their soundsystem is pretty poor. I’ll definitely post an update when i get it all squared away!

19

Understatement?

20

Something like that…:laughing: