Beginner DJ Lessons
and Courses

Breaking down the core concepts of DJing to eliminate the confusion of starting out and help you build a solid foundation of skills.

ONLINE | WORLDWIDE

IN PERSON | LONDON

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Overview

  • In Person DJ Lessons

    Location
    Your Home | London Underground Zones 1-3

    Pirate Studios London
    Earlsfield, Tottenham, Camden
    Dalston, Hackney, Notting Hill

    Duration
    1 Session | 1-6 Hours

    Equipment
    Your Home | Your Own Equipment

    Pirate Studios
    Pioneer CDJ-3000/2000 NXS2 Decks
    Pioneer DJM-900 NXS2 Mixer
    Pioneer XPRS 10 Speakers

    Number of People
    1-4

    Times Available
    Mon-Fri | 18:00-23:00
    Sat-Sun | 10:00-23:00

    Discounts
    Pirate Studios
    20% discount     on studio hire in first lesson
    Free studio credit

    Group Discounts
    2 People - Over 30% Off
    3 People - Over 40% Off
    4 People - Over 50% Off

    Book a DJ Lesson

  • In Person DJ Courses

    Location
    Your Home | London Underground Zones 1-3

    Pirate Studios London
    Earlsfield, Tottenham, Camden
    Dalston, Hackney, Notting Hill

    Duration
    4 Sessions | 2-3 Hours Each

    Equipment
    Your Home | Your Own Equipment

    Pirate Studios
    Pioneer CDJ-3000/2000 NXS2 Decks
    Pioneer DJM-900 NXS2 Mixer
    Pioneer XPRS 10 Speakers

    Number of People
    1-4

    Times Available
    Mon-Fri | 18:00-23:00
    Sat-Sun | 10:00-23:00

    Discounts
    Pirate Studios
    20% discount     on studio hire in first lesson
    Free studio credit

    Group Discounts
    2 People - Over 30% Off
    3 People - Over 40% Off
    4 People - Over 50% Off

    Book a DJ Course

  • Online DJ Lessons

    Location
    Your Home | Worldwide

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    Duration
    1 Session | 1-2 Hours

    Equipment
    Your Own Equipment

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    Number of People
    1

    Times Available
    Mon-Fri | 18:00-23:00
    Sat-Sun | 10:00-23:00

    Discounts
    Buy 4 Lessons, Get 1 Free

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    Book Online Lesson

which option is right for you?

  • In Person DJ Lessons

    ♪ You prefer learning face-to-face and receiving instant feedback
    ♪ You’d like to try DJing to get a feel for whether it's something you'd like to pursue further
    ♪ You’ve just bought your first DJ controller and want to learn the basics on your equipment
    ♪ You want to prepare for your first gig on a club setup
    ♪ You’d like to focus on improving specific skills such as three deck mixing

  • In Person DJ Courses

    ♪ You're unsure where to start and looking for a clearer sense of direction
    ♪ You’d like to dive deeper into all areas and develop a solid understanding of the whole spectrum of DJing
    ♪ You prefer a structured approach with continued guidance and support to simplify the process of learning to DJ
    ♪ You don’t have any equipment yet and would like to learn on the equipment at pirate studios before committing to buying your own equipment

  • Online DJ Lessons

    ♪ You prefer to learn virtually
    ♪ You live outside of London, UK
    ♪ You have a lot of questions you’d like answered to eliminate any confusion when starting out
    ♪ You’d like to learn some of the core concepts before moving on to in person lessons




What You’ll learn

DJ Course Outline

Week 1

Equipment

♪ Get to know what everything does on a club-standard setup and your own controller.

DJ Software

♪ Rekordbox, Virtual DJ, Traktor or Serato basics
♪ Important DJ software settings
♪ Track analysis and key display
♪ Setting beatgrids correctly
♪ Cue points, hot cues and memory cues

Track Structure

♪ Beats, bars & phrases
♪ Breakdown of track sections and timing

Beatmatching

♪ Matching the tempo
♪ Pitch bending to sync tracks

Week 2

Mixing

♪ How to use channel & crossfaders
♪ Gain staging
♪ How to use EQ to layer and blend tracks
♪ Filtering for smoother transitions
♪ Phrasing (the most important concept!)
♪ Best phrasing options for seamless mixes
♪ Different types of transitions
♪ When to bring in and fade out tracks
♪ Using your headphones to cue mixes

Harmonic Mixing

♪ Camelot wheel notation
♪ Mixing in key to create flawless blends

Week 3

Creative Mixing

♪ Three deck mixing and double/triple drops
♪ Call & response
♪ Cutting and chopping

Looping

♪ How and when to use loops
♪ Auto and manual loops
♪ Active loops in Rekordbox

FX

♪ Learn what each effect does
♪ How to apply FX to your mixes
♪ Color FX & Beat FX
♪ Pad FX & Release FX
♪ Combining FX

Week 4

Preparing Sets

♪ Where to find new music
♪ Track selection
♪ Setting cue points and testing tracks
♪ Learn different mixing styles
♪ Sustaining high energy mixes
♪ Balancing energy levels
♪ Creating smooth journeys that ebb and flow
♪ Exporting sets to USB

Recording Mixes

♪ How to record mixes
♪ Benefits of recording mixes for analysis

Week 5
(optional add-on)

Once you’re confident with everything we’ve covered in the course, we can plan out a set together and record your first mix, with support to upload your mix to SoundCloud.

in person and online DJ lessons

Our DJ lessons can cover any of the above topics or revolve around any specific questions you have.

What’s Included?

  • Computer icon with play button

    Resources

    You’ll have lifetime access to any current or future resources such as eBooks and tutorial videos, as well as optional recordings of online sessions to listen back and consolidate your learning.

  • icon with two people talking in front of DJ decks

    Support

    Receive personalised support between sessions and beyond to help you progress towards your goals. Feel free to reach out for guidance, content refreshers, or share mixes for feedback.

  • Custom DJ course icon with lined paper and pencil

    Custom Lessons

    Our DJ courses and lessons are completely tailored to your specific goals and skill level. Lessons are generally left quite open, allowing us to be flexible and take the session in any direction to meet your needs.

What You’ll Need

  • In Person | Home

    Laptop / PC ✓
    DJ Controller / Software ✓
    Digital Music / Streaming Service ✓
    Speakers ✓
    Headphones ✓



    Book In Person Session

  • In Person | Pirate Studios

    USB with Music ✓
    Headphones ✓






    Book In Person Session

  • Online

    Laptop / PC ✓
    DJ Controller / Software ✓
    Digital Music / Streaming Service ✓
    Speakers ✓
    Headphones ✓
    Stable Internet Connection ✓
    Zoom Desktop / Mobile App ✓
    Chrome Remote Desktop - Optional

    Book Online Session

Student reviews

  • “Alec has created a very organised tutoring planning and is extremely knowledgeable. He not only takes the time to help you understand what you should be doing yet also why - this really helped me internalise all the main concepts and components of DJing. I will continue to have classes with Alec during the coming weeks and definitely look forward to it!”

    - Julia P

  • “Alec is a very helpful and knowledgeable teacher. He creates a relaxed and informative environment for his session and ensures he explains new concepts thoroughly. As beginners going into the session we learned a lot about track structuring, DJing equipment and got a good initial feel for DJing on the whole which we are going to continue pursuing in the future. Thanks again for the lesson!”

    - Malcolm W

  • “Had an amazing class, learned a lot about track structure and how to structure sets. Also went over some music theory and figured out dj software settings. Thank you, looking forward to future classes!”

    - Arturs

  • “Alec is a great instructor, knows his stuff, very professional, and would highly recommend him 👍🏻 if you are just starting up or have some knowledge, he can help. It's a great studio, thank you”

    - Terry aka Orange Terry

  • “Skilled DJ and awesome teacher, Alec tailors my lessons to fit my needs, thoughtfully knowing what will make a difference. He makes learning fun, and I’m enjoying seeing myself improve. I couldn’t recommend Alec highly enough.”

    - Ed Weston

  • “Alec is patient and genuinely invested in your learning. He gives all his time and energy to explain concepts that can be particularly confusing to someone completely new to Djing. He is highly knowledgable and you can see his love and passion for music within his lessons. I felt like he met me where I was (a complete beginner) and helped me to build my confidence to start mixing songs together. I have a lot more to learn and experiment with but with Alec's support and feedback it's helped me learn and understand what I am doing, and given me motivation to continue. I highly recommend Alec as a tutor, you will not be disappointed.”

    - Danielle

  • “Alec is an amazing tutor.

    He took on a challenge to teach my 6-year-old daughter!

    He succeeded!

    We thank you for making us such proud parents!!!!”

    - Florin

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Yes! No prior experience is required to get started. In fact, this is often the best way to start as complete beginners won’t have potentially learnt incorrect habits.

  • I primarily work with beginner or intermediate DJs as these people stand to benefit the most from lessons and have a lot to learn when starting out. I feel as though a lot of your growth once you pass these levels will come from experience, experimentation, and developing your own sound and style of mixing. While you can receive some guidance for this, it is quite personal and not necessarily something that can be taught, but rather discovered by the individual.

  • Having your own DJ equipment helps, but is not essential to get started. You can start learning the basic concepts of DJing with online lessons, or get hands-on with the club-standard equipment at Pirate Studios if you don’t have your own yet.

  • I primarily work with Pioneer DJ controllers, or Pioneer CDJs and DJM mixers at Pirate Studios. However, if you have your own equipment at home, we can work with all the major brands, including Pioneer DJ, Denon DJ, Native Instruments, Numark and Hercules DJ.

  • I primarily work with Rekordbox. However, we can also work with the other major brands, including Virtual DJ, Traktor and Serato if you’re using one of these.

  • I specialise in mixing Drum & Bass and generally work with electronic music genres, including House, Techno, Trance, Garage and Dubstep.

    While I can still teach the basic concepts of DJing for more commercial genres such as Hip-Hop and Pop, these aren’t genres I regularly work with or mix myself. Depending on your needs, you may wish to find someone else specialising in these genres if they are what you’d like to mix.

  • The 20% discount applies to studio hire in a student’s first lesson and is only available to new students who haven’t previously booked a session at pirate studios. Students must create an account at Pirate.com and book the first session themselves to use the discount code. The cost of the studio hire will be reimbursed, or alternatively, get in touch prior to purchasing a lesson to arrange custom pricing, excluding the studio hire.

    Use referral code ‘ALEC256563’ when creating an account to receive up to £30 of free studio credit to use on a future booking.

    You can find a video on how to create an account and book a studio here.

Get Started