Phase 1:
Preparation & Mindset
Understand what you are learning, why you are learning it, and what the world you are stepping into looks like.
Most beginners jump straight to the equipment and then wonder why they are not really getting anywhere after 3 months. This phase costs you 2–3 days and saves you 2–3 months.
What you learn in this phase
What a DJ actually does
Transitions, energy, crowd — not just playing music
The 3 tools of a DJ
Music library · technique · crowd reading — all three matter equally
Understanding genres and BPM ranges
What BPM means and how genres differ through it
Listening analytically to 10 top DJs in your genre
Not passively as a fan — actively as a learner
Understanding the signal chain
How music gets from the computer to your ear — every link counts
Controller vs. CDJ vs. mixer
What your FLX2 is — and what's waiting for you in a club
DJ software: why rekordbox
rekordbox, Serato, Traktor — choose once and stick with it
What you can do after this phase
Every sentence is phrased so that you can check it yourself — on your own tracks, with a number rather than a feeling.
Brings back 3 observations from someone else's set that concern the DJ's craft — not their track selection.
Assigns 5 tracks to a BPM range by ear and gets at least 3 right.
Draws the signal chain from file to ear with all 5 steps and places the 3 devices of a club setup within it.
Has written down their own starting point for all three pillars, and has installed the software and got sound out of it.
Practical assessment: listening like a DJ
This is how you finish the phase on the gear — as a self-check with criteria you count off on your own material. The quiz tests what you know; this shows what you can do.
Listen attentively to someone else's DJ set of at least 30 minutes and work with pen and paper.
3 observations about the DJ's decisions are written down — about the craft, not about the track selection.
For 5 tracks in the set you estimated the BPM before checking — at least 3 were in the right range.
The signal chain from file to ear is drawn from memory, all 5 steps in place.
XP reward
150 XP
after completing this phase + passing the quiz