Ideal tempos

DANCE TYPE	SWEET SPOT	ACCEPTABLE RANGE
Moderate Waltz	144	138-160 beats/minute
Fast Viennese Waltz	168	160-190
Cross-Step Waltz	114-116	108-120
Slow American Ballroom Waltz	100	86-110
Lindy Hop & Triple Swing	75 (150)	58-82 (116-164)
Fast East Coast Swing	92 (184)	80-100 (160-200)
West Coast Swing	110 (55)	106-120 (53-60)
Street Swing (Bugg)	130 (65)	110-150 (55-75)
Hustle	118	110-130
Club Two-Step	82	76-88
Cha Cha	118 (59)	112-126 (56-63)
Salsa	94	86-100
Merengue	120	112-138
Rumba	68	58-75
Social Tango	66	60-80
Tango Argentino	62	Wide Range
Polka	114	104-124
One-Step	118	108-132
Slow Fox-Trot (box step)	64 (128)	60-76 (120-152)
Faster Fox-Trot (magic step)	78 (156)	68-92 (136-184)
Quickstep	100 (200)	90-110 (180-220)

Where is the best tunes

Ask your dancers to bring in their favorite tunes, on CDs or music files.  Don't play them blind, because many aren't danceable (see the above criteria), but collect them for your future programming.

Search through Spotify, iTunes or Amazon mp3s.  If you buy tunes, you can deduct them as business expenses if you're a professional DJ or teacher.

Many complete tunes are now posted on YouTube, often with just a single image of the cover art as the visual.  Then there are several online sites that convert the YouTube videos to mp3s, and a hack using Safari, giving you the entire song for free, but the monaural sound is often too low quality for a dance.

Try the listening stations at record/CD stores, before they completely disappear (oops, too late).

Trade favorite tracks with other dance DJs.

Listen to the radio, including Pandora and internet stations.  Stations often post their playlists.  Internet and satellite stations (like Sirius XM) also give metadata of the current tune.

This website

Good Choice

I believe that coming up with songs appropriate for each dance form is up to the DJ's experience as a dancer.  "This sounds like a cha cha to me."  His/her intuitive hunches are what make every DJ different.  There are no correct answers, and each DJ will have his/her unique sense of whether their tune choice works well for that dance, or not.  Then the dancers each have their unique sense of whether their dance choice works well for that tune, or not.  Everyone is following their hunches, but a part of this process is also objective:

After we come up with an intuitive guess, then we can easily check the tempo, to see if it's within 10% of the sweet spot tempo (below).

We easily tell whether it has a driving high energy or if it's gentle/lyrical, to match to the tempo being above or below the sweet spot.

But coming up with that first intuitive guess is what makes each DJ unique.  My tips don't want to influence that individuality.  The suggestions on this page are just to help increase the percentage of tunes that make the dancers happy.

Not to do

Don't choose tunes primarily because of the lyrics, title or clever name of the band.  Most dancers don't listen to the lyrics when they dance.  Dancing is a very non-verbal activity, so choosing a tune primarily because of its lyrics has almost zero value to the dancers.  Besides, dancers come to have fun dancing, not to admire how well the DJ strings together a series of songs on a special topic. 

Don't choose a tune primarily because it's unusual or weird, at the expense of it being an effective dance.  Don't get me wrong — weird music can be great when it's danceable, but the first priority is meeting the above requirements, motivating the dancers and having tempos perfect for their energy level.  If these are met then yes, obscure is fine, and weird is fun.

So the key word here is "primarily."  If tunes have a special theme and are wonderfully compelling to dance to, then there's no problem.  But too often a DJ's quest for special themes or lyrics leads them to dig up tunes with undanceable tempos and hard-to-hear beats.

All suggestions have exceptions.  Occasionally (rarely) the words will be important, like song lyrics about a father and his daughter, played for the father-daughter dance at a wedding.  But in general, lyrics aren't the reason to choose your dance music.

Monitoring volume level

The volume level of your music presents a pair of tricky problems.  (1) With only a few high-tech exceptions, the volume level can be too loud directly in front of the speakers but too quiet at points farthest from the speakers ("I can't hear the beat").  (2) And as your song alternates between its loud and quiet sections, ambient party noise usually drowns out the quieter passages, then blasts your dancers painfully during the loudest parts.  This doesn't happen in the quiet of a concert hall or at home... it's a dance party dilemma.

Because of these two problems, there's a very narrow range of acceptable volume.  Any louder and it's hurting the ears of those closest to the speakers; any quieter and it's inaudible for other dancers.  Then as most tunes decrescendo and crescendo, your music quickly goes from inaudible to painful, because of the very narrow range of acceptable volume.

Your responsibility as a DJ is to constantly monitor the volume level, lowering it during the loudest parts and raising the volume during the quiet passages.  A concert purist might complain that acoustic music doesn't do that, but here music is functional and inspirational to dancers, and must be modulated to best support the dancers.

This responsibility as a DJ might involve some self-sacrifice — foregoing the pleasure of dancing yourself.  I'll often be at a DJ'd dance and be surprised that the DJ let the music suddenly get painfully loud, or ineffectively quiet.  Sure enough, each time the DJ is out having fun on the dance floor, away from the volume control.  If you want to dance, ask someone to take over the volume control for you.  My solution, if it's one I know I'll want to dance, is to record a version in which I've adjusted the volume peaks and valleys ahead of time.

You already know this next point, but just to be thorough, the DJ often sits in an acoustic shadow behind the speakers, so the music doesn't sound as loud to the DJ as it does to the dancers.  During your first song of the night, go out onto the dance floor to make sure the sound isn't blasting those closest to the speakers, and not too quiet for those at the far end of the hall.  Check again when the floor becomes more crowded, since bodies absorb sound and change the acoustics of the dance floor.

Novelty vs Familiarity

Do you play mostly familiar favorites, or mostly new music that hasn't been heard before?  Or a mix of both?

I strongly recommend a mix of both.  Every group of dancers is different, so this isn't an absolute rule, but most dancers prefer a mixture of familiar favorites and new music.

Everyone has their favorite tunes that make them happy.  And people love having a chance to dance to popular tunes they've heard.  So don't leave those out.  Furthermore, the better leads want to match their variations to the breaks in the music, which only happen when they know the break is coming.  Similarly the better follows like to add stylistic flourishes and footwork modifications to match the musical changes.  So the more experienced dancers, both lead and follow, have a strong preference for familiar tunes, for these reasons.

Then new music is always exciting for most people, including the experienced dancers, so also include those in your mix.

DJ's more often err on the side of not enough familiar favorites (or worse, none).  Those are usually the DJs who are grandstanding, showing off their immense music resources.  That's their version of "Look at me! Look what I have!"  instead of selflessly giving the dancers what they want.  Then they wonder why the dancers don't come back.  But erring the side of only old favorites isn't much better, in my opinion.  Give them plenty of both.

This recommendation is specifically for social dance music.  If you're a psy-trance or techno DJ, then your following will want the latest music they've never heard before.  Conversely some dances have period themes, like all-fifties, disco or all-eighties.  And a wedding couple may request only their old favorites at their reception dance.  Each situation is different.

Variety and Pacing

You want to give your dancers a contrast between high and low energy.  Obviously you don't want to play two tunes in a row for the same kind of dance, at the same tempo.  Have you ever danced to a big band that played three swing or foxtrot tunes in a row with the same tempo?  The bandleaders were clearly not dancers.

Be aware that dancers will want to catch their breath after a fast tune, so maybe follow it with a slower one.  And they don't want to be lulled to sleep with too many slow songs in a row.  But you don't have to strictly alternate fast and slow dances.  Some DJs like to build the energy over several dances, bringing the dancers higher and higher but without exhausting them (yet).  Similarly, a string of several quiet dances can effectively set a deeper mood while also building up a desire to be hit with a high-energy set.

The art is to find the perfect pace, without too many fast or slow dances in a row.  If you want a safe rule of thumb (which has exceptions), don't play more than one or two really fast tunes in a row, and don't play more than two or three slow tunes in a row.

Songs of right length

You usually don't have to worry about your tunes being too short, but in the rare instance of having a favorite tune that's only one minute long, you can make a double or triple-length version easily, splicing together repeats of that tune, into one longer version, while maintaining the beat.  Music editing software is a good way to do this.

The far greater problem is a tune lasting too long, usually meaning more than three minutes.  It's a twofold problem.  (1) Most social dancers would prefer to have four 3-minute dances with four partners than two 6-minute dances.  Variety and contrast are good.  (2) Many leads/men feel that their repertoire of freestyle dance figures is exhausted after two or three minutes, and they would much rather move on to something else.

Since many recordings are longer than three minutes, you have two choices: fade the song out at about three minutes, or edit out a central part to retain the original ending.  I always listen to the original ending to see if it fades out, as much popular music does.  If so, then I'll know that an earlier fade-out at 3 minutes is okay.  But if there's a definitive ending (which is especially important in swing and tango) then I'll edit out some central strains to bring the song down to three minutes.  If the song is four minutes long, I'll listen through the piece several times, searching for the minute which I can remove from the center without harm to the song, usually a verse and chorus among many repeats of that verse-chorus.  If the lyrics are telling a story, you might worry about removing an important middle part of the story.  Don't worry — dancers are too occupied with dancing to be listening to the lyrics.  Once again, there are plenty of software options for editing middle sections out of music to make a 3-minute dance version.

Exception 1:  Some fast and exhausting dances might want to be shorter than three minutes, like a fast techno polka for instance.

Exception 2:  Some dance traditions favor long songs, like salsa.  And some groups are so specialized, like West Coast Swing clubs, that the leads know hundreds of variations for that one dance form, and are happy with longer songs.  Good DJs ask what the dancers prefer, including song lengths.  Dancers' wishes always come first.

Danceable tempos

Each dance form has its "sweet spot" perfect tempo for those steps.  Music which is too fast often makes dancing difficult (if not impossible), while too-slow tempos can feel lethargic or boring.  At the bottom of this page is my list of tempo sweet spots for each kind of social dance.  The general rule of thumb is to keep the tempo within 10% (above or below) of the sweet spot, no more.

Next, here's one of the main secrets of being a great DJ:
A) Your tunes come in a range of tempos,               B) Some of your tunes have a driving high
above and below the sweet-spot tempo for             energy, and some have an easygoing low energy.
each dance form.

A and B must correspond.  Tunes with tempos above the sweet spot must have correspondingly higher energy, to support the extra effort required to dance faster, and vice versa for tunes below the sweet spot tempo.  This is a straightforward calculation.  (1) Get a metronome (click for an online metronone) or beat-checking software and find the tempo.  (2) Look at the sweet spot chart at the bottom of this page.  If the tempo is significantly above the sweet spot tempo, but it's one of the quieter, gentler tunes you have for that dance form, then don't play it.
Take a rotating (Viennese or rotary) waltz for example.  The sweet spot for intermediate dancers is around 144 bpm.  A common DJ mistake is to play a quiet ballad or gentle waltz that happens to be a fast tempo, say 160 or 170 bpm.  A good example is "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" by the Beatles, or Pearl Jam's cover of it.  To the dancers (especially the leads) waltzing now feels like hard work — more effort is required at that fast tempo than the gentle music is providing.  But a powerful driving rhythmic tune at the same 170 tempo would be fine.

Conversely, playing a highly rhythmic driving waltz tune that happens to be a slower tempo, like 130 bpm, will fell terribly slow, while a gentle lyrical waltz at that same 130 tempo will feel perfect.

This is true for most dance forms — swing, salsa and others.  Match the higher or lower energy with correspondingly faster or slower tempos.


What do you do if you really love a tune and it's not at a good tempo for that dance?  Consider slowing it down or speeding it up, without changing the pitch.  There are many ways to speed up music without changing pitch, both with software and firmware.  Speeding up music is easy.  However slowing down music beyond 8% is technically much harder, without it sounding warbly or watery.  I recommend using Amazing Slow Downer software, available for both PC and Mac.  Music slowed down 20% or even 50% still sounds natural.

However this approach of slowing down or speeding up recordings is debatable.  I heard of a conservative dance group where some dancers protested if a tune was slower or faster than the original version they knew.  They complained with, "How can I like something that I'm not accustomed to?"  So if you live in a conservative area, this is your call.


The danger of the DJ being an experienced dancer:
You may be so adept at dancing that you forget that it's often difficult for a beginner to dance at a fast tempo that you find comfortable.  Some of the worst dance DJs I've seen are often the most adept dancers, because they don't know what's hard for the average dancer.  If you have many new dancers at your party, keep their comfort level in mind.

Dancers want to hear the beat

Most dance forms are easier to dance when the beat is heard clearly, usually played by the rhythm instruments (drums/percussion, guitar, piano, techno rhythm tracks, etc.).

On a rhythmic intensity scale of 0 to 10, most dance music wants to be in the 4 to 10 range, depending on the type of dance.  Concert music for listening can have a quiet rhythm accompaniment or none at all, but the rhythm of most dance music should range from a gentle but clearly audible rhythm (4) to a strong driving rhythm (10).  Even quieter dance forms like rumba and club two step should have a clearly audible beat.  With only a few exceptions, avoid the quietest scale of 0 (no rhythm instruments at all, only melody) to 3 (still not clear enough to hear in a room full of dancers who might be shuffling and talking).

Shuffling and talking?  Yes, dance parties are usually noisy.  One of the common mistakes DJs make is to listen to a tune in a quiet room and think that the quiet rhythm accompaniment will be heard at a dance.  Then they find that the rhythm is lost in ambient noise of a dance party.  So if you're test-listening to music in a quiet room, aim for one or two notches stronger rhythm than you think will be needed.

When I hear dancers complain about a DJ, the most common complaint is, "I couldn't hear the beat."  The second most common complaint is about tempos...

Matching the dances energy

Some dances require much energy to dance, like swing, hustle, salsa, fast waltz and polka.  When the music supplies this energy, their dancing will feel fun and effortless, like driving a turbocharged car.  When the music doesn't give this energy boost, fast dancing can feel like hard work.

Other dance forms are gentle and lyrical, and dancers love music which sweeps them emotionally through those dances.

There's a huge difference between the questions, "Is it possible to waltz to this tune?" and, "Does this music totally embody the feeling of waltzing... does it make them want to waltz?"  The second question is far more important than the first.  (It's the same question for swing, salsa and every dance form.)

If you only have a few tunes for waltzing (or whatever the dance form is), then play whatever you have.  But when you have dozens of possible tunes, then choose from the second category above, not the first... does this tune make you want to waltz, or is it merely a tune in 3/4 time?  Does it embody the spirit of waltzing?  Does it energize that particular dance form?  (Again, it's the same question for swing, salsa and every dance form.)

There's a huge tendency to ask ourselves, "What could I dance to this tune?"  We all do that.  But when DJs only answer that question with something like, "Hey, I could polka to that!" they may be heading for trouble.  The really important questions come next, which are the topics of the first four pointers on this page.  Especially questions like, "Does this tune have the driving energy required to move the dancers?"  Or, "Is the beat clearly audible?"

Dj tips 24

Fall back on previous sets
What worked once will probably work again. Use
the history feature of your software to remind
yourself what has worked well for you in the past,
and revert to a previously planned set or sets for
a while. Continuity is one of the big plus points of
playing regularly somewhere, and so this works
especially well if you have, say, a weekly booking
– there’s nothing wrong with letting your weekly
sets slowly evolve rather than trying to reinvent
the wheel by playing something completely
different every time.

Dj tips 23

Use key, genre and BPM sorting to make
instant “planned” playlists
Playing music in a similar key can help you to
make transitions smoother and thus appear
planned when they’re not. Sorting by BPM can
give you a choice of records to play next,
removing panic and paralysis and suggesting just
a few tunes meaning you now only have to pick
the best one for a quick mix.
If you play a wildcard tune that goes down really
well and suddenly think that actually, the crowd
would like to hear half an hour of indie, or hip
hop, or whatever style that tune is in, sorting by
genre can give you an instant mini-set –
especially when you then apply key and BPM
sorts within that mini-set to further reinforce the
illusion of careful pre-planning.
Using your software’s “prepare” functionality can
allow you to make such mini-sets on the fly more
easily.

Dj tips 22

Use loops, effects, EQ and volume to add a
spontaneity to planned sets
If the crowd are loving a break, loop it and double
its length before dropping back to the beat. If
they’re grooving to the start of a house track
quite happily, loop it and let it run for a few
minutes before you break the loop and let the
melody or bassline finally drop.
If they’re tiring after a few full-on tunes, next time
your planned set takes a natural dip, drop the
volume by a quarter and let the dancefloor
regroup for five or ten minutes before building the
volume back. Slowly drop the bass out before
throwing it back in at a big point in the track. Use
a little judiciously applied echo or other effect to
add something unusual to a well-known track.
All of these techniques and many more can add
DJing spontaneity to any set, even if it is
otherwise 100% pre-planned.

Dj tips 21

Organise your music into tightly focused
playlists
It doesn’t really matter how you do this.
I do it in groups like warm-up tunes, peak time
tunes, last hour tunes, new tunes I ‘d like to play
but may not (these can hang around for months
while I find the right place to introduce them into
a set), and surefire floorfillers / classics – kind of
“get out of jail” tunes.
Knowing you can happily play half an hour from
any of these playlists means that you can swap
and change as the crowd and the night demands,
while still actually playing a largely planned set.

Dj tips 20

Know the venue and the crowd well
Planning also involves visiting the venue and
knowing the music they play and the type of
crowd they get – if possible, of course. This helps
you with point one above, as you’ve got a picture
of the venue and crowd in your head as you’re
picking or rejecting songs for your crate.

Dj tips 19

Pack your music carefully
Less is definitely more when it comes to
preparing your tunes. Listen to ever single record
you put in your crate for the night, so they’re all
fresh in your mind. I like to pack roughly double
the music I end up playing, giving me two choices
for every eventual tune played – so I can vary the
set but within preset confines. Listening to the
tunes like this helps you to spot the “odd ones
out” too that maybe don’t belong in tonight’s set
after all.

Dj tips 14

Ready the set-up instructions carefully and
do everything they say – Even the easiest-
to-use DJ controllers need a modicum of
setting up, and if you miss out stages, your
controller won’t work properly. Pay
particular attention to the “audio routing” or
“audio set-up” sections – one of the biggest
beginner errors is failing to take this step,
which is essential if your headphones are
going to work properly (ie carry a different
track to the one playing on your speakers,
when needed)

Dj tips 18

Learn how to record everything you do –
Listening to recordings of your practising,
however messy or unorganised/unplanned it
is, is the single best way to get better. It
puts you in the shoes of an “audience”. So
learn how to record your sets, and play
those recordings in your car, on the bus, at
work, at the gym… you get the idea

Dj tips 17

Commit to practising little and often – Like
playing the guitar, or getting good at a
sport, or cooking, new DJs make progress
quickest when they practise regularly for
short periods, rather than every now and
then for a long time. So commit to as many
practice sessions a week as feels right to
you, and stick to it – you’ll see results
quickest that way

Dj tips 16

Start with an empty folder or playlist for
your DJ music, and add to it with care –
Don’t just use all your music as your “DJ
collection”. Choose the songs you want to
DJ with carefully, and however you organise
your tunes (folders, iTunes, directly in your
DJ software…), keep those tunes separate.
This allows you to get to know the music
you want to DJ with properly (an essential
for mixing), and also to ensure the quality
of it (stick to 256 or 320 AAC/MP3 files as
a minimum, and avoid illegal rips and
downloads if you care at all about sound
quality, or indeed the wider DJ culture
you’re now a part of)

Dj tips 15

Optimise your laptop for digital DJing –
Most laptops will work just fine with most
DJ software and hardware, if you follow a
few simple rules. Make sure you’ve got 20%
hard disk space free, turn off WiFi, Bluetooth
and all unnecessary programs and apps,
use outlet electricity, and turn off
screensavers and notifications

Dj tips 12

Set your DJ area up correctly – Have your
controller about the height of a kitchen work
surface if you’re going to stand, or a desk if
you’re going to sit. An ironing board makes
a great makeshift DJ stand! Or, use the box
your controller came in to get it to the right
height. Your back will thank you. And
whatever speakers you’re using, make sure
they’re near to your controller and pointing
at you. Good audio makes learning to mix
so much easier

Dj tips 13

Make sure you’ve got the latest drivers,
firmware and software – The stuff on the
CD in your DJ controller’s box may be
months old. Visit the support website for
your controller and check to see if there are
more up to date versions of audio drivers,
controller firmware and DJ software. This
will help to ensure your system runs
smoothly

Dj tips 11

You never know what could go wrong at the club
or event where you’ll be performing. For this
reason it’s always a good idea to bring backup
music in different formats. If you play vinyl, bring
CDs. If you play CDs, bring records or a couple
flash drives of MP3s. If you use a laptop, bring
CDs and/or vinyl as backup. An iPod full of your
latest tunes is another option for emergency
situations where one of your sources dies mid-
performance.

Dj tips 10

While the use of effects is an artistic choice, and
in some cases the basis of a DJ’s sound, I’d
recommend that you don’t OVERdo it with effects.
Many DJs use effects to help transitions from one
record to another and to enhance their DJ
performance. Neither of these things are bad — but
they become a problem if you rely on them .
Audiences have become familiar with Pioneer’s
echo, Allen & Heath’s filter and Traktor’s stutter
effects. Use your levels and EQ to create interest
before turning to the effects, and then when you
do drop that echo it will be something special
instead of redundant or annoying.

Dj tips 9

The three- (or four-) band equalizer on each
channel of the DJ mixer is your most valuable
tool for professional DJ performances. There are a
couple of basic rules to keep in mind when using
EQ; these can be applied to DJ mixers as well as
music production.
The first rule is — keep your EQ at 12:00 as a
default, unless you are making a particular
adjustment. That is to say, the EQ sounds best at
unity gain, so keep your EQ at 0db whenever
possible.
The second rule is — cut (don’t boost) the signal.
This requires thinking backwards through your
process a bit. For instance, if you are inclined to
turn up the bass, turn down the mids and highs a
bit instead and turn up the channel gain if
needed.
Another good rule of thumb to follow when DJing
is — only use one sub-bass source at a time.
Generally speaking, playing two tracks with heavy
sub-bass at the same time will create a muddy
mix and won’t sound good on a large sound
system. EQ is your best friend in these situations —
simply turn down the bass of one the tracks when
you’re mixing them together to keep the overall
sound punchy and tight. You can swap the bass
lines back and forth with the EQ knobs or use the
crossfader to mix between the two tracks, just
remember to only use one bass source at a time
for optimum sound quality and crowd response.

Dj tips 8

To achieve the best sound quality during a DJ
performance or recorded mix, make sure you are
getting a good strong signal both in and out of
the mixer, but always take care not to push any
of your levels into the red. This is a simple rule
but one that most DJs are guilty of breaking from
time to time. When the mix is hot and people are
jumping, most DJs want to pump up the volume.
But boosting the channel gain or master volume
into the red will distort your signal, making the
music sound degraded and killing the vibe. In
addition to this, most venues have a master
limiter at the final stage of the signal before it
goes to the house system, so turning up your
mixer past 0db will most likely not have an effect
on your overall volume anyway, it will just make
your music sound squashed. So always
remember: watch your master volume throughout
your set, and make sure to keep the meters from
going into the red by turning down your levels
and/or EQ controls

Dj tips 7

The best DJs I’ve ever heard all taught me a
similar method in how to approach programming
a DJ set. Some call this “the push and pull” — giving
the crowd just enough energy to dance and be
excited, but never giving it all up until the right
moment. Oldschool house DJs like Derrick Carter
have mastered this method, with sets that build
up into banging music and then down into
something deep for a moment, pushing and
pulling the energy of the set to make the crowd
more excited. It’s amazing how well this method
works, in a single DJ set and also over the course
of an event.

Dj tips 6

Programming is probably the most important
aspect of a DJ’s set. A perfect technical mix with
no soul is never as good as a less-technical mix
with lots of vibe. The music is what moves your
audience and the flow of music from one track to
another can truly create a journey if you take the
time to plan that journey. Many DJs lose sight of
the journey when the excitement of crowd
response is happening and they slip away from
the journey and into musical instant gratification.
A seasoned DJ will never go the route of instant
gratification, it’s a short-term fix and a crowd will
burn out quickly on this vibe.

DJ tips 5

This has been a hot topic on our social media
channels lately, culminating in our recent Tips for
Opening DJs article where A-list DJs all
delivered a very similar sentiment — don’t try to
blow up the dancefloor at the wrong time. There
is an arc of energy that events hope to achieve
and promoters usually book DJs to fill these
different time slots hoping that they will bring the
proper energy for that time slot. Many beginner
DJs are so eager to play “their sound” and impress
their audience that they end up playing
inappropriately for their time slot (usually an
opening slot for up and coming DJs). The best
thing you can do during an early slot is lay down
an even-keeled, in-the-pocket vibe that doesn’t
give up too much energy too early.

DJ tips 4

Identify your audience before you perform. This
doesn’t just mean to find out what they like and
play it — you need to know the size of the room
you’ll be playing in, the number of people who
may be there, and the general musical vibe for
the evening. Know your time slot and what frame
of mind people will be in when you are playing.
Part of being a DJ is sonic empathy: take time to
know your audience and identify what sort of
sounds they might connect with

Dj tips 3

Plan in Threes
This is a method of organizing music for DJ
performance that I’ve found to work extremely
well in my own experience. When planning a set I
like to find three records that mix well together
at a time. Optimally these three records can all
be played together at once or they can transition
into one another. Next I find another set of three.
Then another. Eventually I have a stack of records
that are organized by how they mix together, and
I start to organize those sets of three into a flow
of slow to fast / mellow to banging. I like to have
60 tracks selected for an hour of performance. I
won’t play all 60 (I usually play around 20 tracks
per hour) and I won’t always play those exact
mixes (spontaneity is still important in a DJ set),
but I have options that go in every direction and I
know that I can find my way from one type of
sound to another while staying deep in the mix
the whole way. Knowing this allows me to be
much more experimental on-the-fly and it always
works better than if I don’t plan.

Dj tips 2

Be Flexible
As a professional DJ you don’t necessarily have
to take requests, you can stand by your own style
and selection. However, playing more than one
specific style of music is a great way to gain
more opportunities for performance. There are
many different types of clubs and events, and
different types of crowds — try to find selections
from your music collection that will work with
these different groups

DJ tips 1

Practice and Prepare
Practice makes for much better DJ sets than a
free-form approach to the craft. Having only a
vague idea of what you are going to play usually
makes for a halfhearted DJ set. You’ll find that
accomplished turntablists and groove-riders alike
have all spent countless hours perfecting their
sets. We don’t necessarily recommend pre-
planning the entire set, either, but you should get
to know your options before you show up to
perform. Spend time to find tracks that mix well
and make playlists of those tunes for future use.
Make different kinds of playlists for different kinds
of gigs. Finding tracks that work well together
takes time and it rarely happens spontaneously at
the gig.