How to Beat Juggle on Turntables

Have you ever been to a nightclub and hit the dance floor while a live DJ was spinning records? If so then you’ve probably heard the DJ beat juggling even though you didn’t know there was a name for it. Beat juggling is where the DJ spins the records backwards and forwards to create a quick repetitive sound that changes the typical sound of the music. Beat juggling is fairly easy to do as long as you have the proper equipment and practice your technique.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Two turntables
• Mixer
• Cables
• Two records
• Cross fader

1. Set up your equipment. You’ll need two turntables with a mixer in the middle and all of your cables properly attached. Set your cross fader to the middle and turn the volume up to its highest level on your mixer.

2. Choose two records to play on your turntables. It’s helpful to use two songs that share a common beat or general sound or to even use two songs from the same era. You can also mix things up by using two completely different records on the turntables.

3. Listen to the music several times to determine where the beat breaks are and listen for places where you can stop or pause the music. You may need to listen to the song several times to get a feel for the music and to find the perfect stops. Listen to the songs playing at the same time to decide where to stop both songs.

4. Play the songs at the same time and start juggling. Pick which hand you’d like to start with and wait for the break in the song. Move your hand forward and back several times to juggle the song and move your other hand back and forth on the other song. You can juggle both songs at the same time or work with only one song at a time.

5. Juggle your records throughout the song by alternating hands or juggling both songs at the same time. As long as you keep your hands moving every 30-60 seconds, you should have an experience that will excite your crowd and keep them on the floor.

Tips & Warnings

• Don’t juggle so much that your audience gets confused or forgets what song is playing. First time jugglers sometimes spend too much time on the juggling and forget about the music.