How to Do a Military March on a Turntable

Learning basic turntable skills is essential for any disc jockey who wishes to have a career playing the turntables. The military march is one of those basic sounds and skills every disc jockey needs to have in her arsenal.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Be familiar with the basic scratching and other turntable techniques. It is important to understand the basics of the turntable before adding more complex techniques. Scratching is the technique used with the military march, and the cross fader is the control you need to be familiar with.

2. Start learning this technique while playing with the cross fader and scratching. The military march is essentially a pattern of scratching made by using the cross fader to control the sound. Start the move slowly, until you are familiar with the sound, then speed it up playing around with the sound of the march.

3. Let the turntable on either side play for a moment. Make sure the cross fader is to the side that is playing. Scratch the track a couple of times to get your positioning right. Once you have the scratch you want down, use the cross fader to come in and out while you are scratching.

4. Throw in some stabs or other techniques you have learned to mix up the sound and blend the techniques together. Practice is the most important thing you can do to become a great disc jockey. Practice the military march, and you will have one more technique and sound under your belt.