DJ glossary

Every term in one list, from the timing words to the mixing techniques. Open any word for the full answer, a practice exercise and the questions other beginners ask.

• Beatmatching

  Beatmatching means lining up two tracks so their beats play together, at the same speed and in step with each other. It is the core skill of DJing and the thing that turns two songs into one continuous mix. Sync buttons can do it for you, but your ears are the real tool.

• BPM

  BPM stands for beats per minute, and it measures how fast a track plays. A song at 120 BPM counts 120 beats every minute. DJs lean on this number constantly, because two tracks with close BPMs are far easier to beatmatch and blend than two tracks that drift far apart.

• Camelot wheel

  The Camelot wheel is a simple map of musical keys for DJs. Each key gets a number from 1 to 12 plus a letter, like 8A or 9B, so you can see at a glance which keys go together. It is how DJs mix in key without reading music.