DJ Mixing Techniques and Phrasing

DJ mixing techniques and phrasing are the foundation of confident, crowd-moving sets. In this in-depth course taught by DJ, producer, and turntablist Proper Villains, you will build practical skills to time transitions perfectly, blend across genres with intention, and guide the energy of the room from the first track to the last.

You will start by decoding song structure in pop, hip-hop, and dance so you can identify common patterns, plan your mix points, and execute transitions that land on the right bar every time. From there, you will lock in the essentials that make pro mixes repeatable and reliable, including cue point strategy, song gridding, and harmonic mixing for musically compatible blends.

As you progress, you will move into creative territory that elevates your sets. Learn to route energy with echo fades and beat drops, craft intro pick-up blends, and execute wordplay transitions that surprise the crowd. You will practice phrase looping, build longer story-driven mixes, and experiment with double drops and riddim chopping for hard-hitting moments. By the end, you will have a performance-ready toolkit for club sets, livestreams, and studio mixes.

What You’ll Learn

• Phrasing and song structure across pop, hip-hop, and dance
• Cue point setup and song gridding for dependable blends
• Harmonic mixing to fuse styles without clashing keys
• Transition styles including echo fades, beat drops, intro pick-ups, and wordplay
• Long-form storytelling with phrase looping, mashups, and energy shaping
• Advanced moments including double drops and riddim chopping

Meet Your Instructor

Proper Villains, also known as Jonathan Shulman, is a New York City DJ, producer, and multi-instrumentalist rooted in the city’s underground rave and loft scenes. His catalog spans bass-driven styles with an ear for gritty yet accessible dance music, with early releases such as “Trick Baby” and a bootleg remix of “Bass Down Low” that brought wobble elements to mainstream radio. He has delivered official remixes for artists including Enrique Iglesias, Dev, Havana Brown, Pitbull, Lil Jon, Far East Movement, Roger Seventytwo, and Childish Gambino. His blend of underground credibility and pop sensibility informs the practical, performance-first approach you will learn in this course.

Is This Course for You?

This course suits working and aspiring DJs who want tighter timing, cleaner blends, and more intentional storytelling. If you play clubs, private events, livestreams, or release studio mixes, you will gain repeatable methods to plan transitions, adapt on the fly, and keep the floor engaged. Producers who perform hybrid sets will also benefit from the focus on structure and musical compatibility.

What’s Included

• Step-by-step lessons on phrasing, structure, and timing
• Hands-on training with cue points, grids, and harmonic theory
• A toolbox of transition styles for different genres and tempos
• Creative frameworks for loops, mashups, and energy control
• Practical examples that translate to clubs, livestreams, and recorded mixes