DJ Scratching for Beginners

Series Summary

Have you ever found yourself in the club—moving to the music, making eye contact with other young, hip people around you—and wondered how the DJ does it night after night? Entertaining a crowd of music-conscious party animals is not an easy thing to do; just a few false moves and you’re out of favor…and out of a job.

Hip hop music has a unique ability to get people bobbing their heads, feeling the groove, dancing to the beat. A DJ’s job is to keep that beat seamless and uninterrupted all night long. You can tell a master turntable artist not by his highly technical scratching skills, but rather by how well he mixes beats and songs together, creating the perfect playlist for a night out on the town.

In this free hip hop DJ music video series, learn some of the fundamentals of scratching: a must-have skill if you want to play a night club or party. DJ Shy will help you learn different types of scratches, from the basic baby scratch, to stab scratching, the chirp scratch, and more. Put it all together, practice, and go out and get a DJ gig!

Video Transcript

"Hi, everybody welcome to Expert Village. I am DJ Shy and I will be teaching you how to do basic scratches. A little bit about myself, I was the first female on-air mixer on 102. 7 KIIS-FM here in Los Angeles it features Ryan SeaCrest as our morning host. I have been spinning for about six years now, mostly here in Los Angeles, Hollywood. A lot of it is night club gigs, but I also do weddings, Bar Mitzvahs, anything from sporting events to red carpet and movie premieres. I have been spinning in Asia, Canada and all over the US. So, I am very excited to talk to you about how to do the basic scratches which are the baby scratches, the flares, the transforms and the chirps."