Tutorial 1 — Beatmatching by Ear
Goal: mix two tracks so their beats run perfectly together — without
using SYNC. This is the foundational DJ skill. Auto-sync does it for you in one button, which is great on
stage but means you never actually learn it. GoDJ's Beatmatch trainer gives you the feedback
a teacher would, so you can build the skill and then take the training wheels off.
You'll learn the two halves of beatmatching:
- Tempo match — make both tracks run at the same speed, so their beats don't drift apart.
- Beat align (phase) — slide one track a hair so its beats land exactly on top of the other's.
The trainer strip
Look at the thin BEATMATCH BY EAR strip directly below the scrolling waveforms.
It watches both decks live and coaches you. It has two parts:
- TEMPO — the effective BPM of Deck A (blue) and Deck B (orange), plus a hint:
"Tempos matched" (green) when they're within 0.1 BPM, or "Deck B faster 2.3 BPM — lower it"
telling you which way to move the tempo.
- BEAT ALIGN — a drift needle: centre (green zone) = beats locked together;
needle right = your deck is ahead, left = behind; a hint like
"Deck B ahead 28 ms — ease it back" tells you what to do.
The trainer coaches the incoming deck — the one set by the A>B / A<B
direction button. It only wakes up when both decks are playing and SYNC is off.
Tip: the colour of the hint tells you which deck to touch — blue = Deck A, orange = Deck B.
What you need
- Two tracks with a clear, steady beat (house/techno/pop are easiest). Pick two with
similar BPM for your first try.
- Both tracks analysed (they get a beatgrid automatically when loaded). If a grid looks off,
fix it with the grid-correction buttons beside the stacked view first.
Step by step
1. Load both decks
From the Playlists or Browser tab, load one track to A and
another to B (A/B buttons on each row, or select a row and press A /
B on the keyboard).
2. Turn SYNC off
Make sure neither deck's SYNC button is lit. Beatmatching by ear only works — and the trainer
only coaches — with sync off.
3. Set the direction
Use the A>B / A<B button so it points into the deck you want to practise on.
A>B = you're mixing into B, so you'll adjust Deck B.
4. Start both decks
Press PLAY on both. The trainer strip lights up.
5. Match the tempo (stop the drift)
Read the TEMPO hint. If it says "Deck B faster 2.3 BPM — lower it", drag Deck B's
vertical TEMPO fader down a little; if "slower … raise it", move it up. Keep nudging
until it turns green: "Tempos matched".
Watch the drift needle while you do this: when tempos are off, the needle slowly
slides and keeps going — that sliding is the beats drifting apart. When tempos match, the
needle stops sliding.
The #1 thing beginners miss: if the needle keeps drifting, your tempo isn't matched
yet — fix that before trying to align the beats.
6. Align the beats (centre the needle)
Now the needle is steady but off-centre. Read the BEAT ALIGN hint:
- "Deck B ahead … — ease it back" → tap the deck's ◀ nudge button (or pull the
jog wheel back) to briefly slow it.
- "Deck B behind … — push it on" → tap the ▶ nudge button (or push the jog wheel) to
briefly speed it up.
The nudge is temporary — the deck springs back to its set tempo, so you're only shifting
phase, not changing tempo.
7. Lock it in
When the needle sits in the green centre the hint reads "Beats locked". You should hear a
single, tight beat instead of a flam/echo. With no sync holding it, it will slowly drift again — glance at the
trainer and nudge now and then. That's beatmatching.
Train your ears, not just your eyes
- Galloping / echo = tempos not matched (needle sliding). Fix tempo.
- A short flam (two beats very close) = phase slightly off. Nudge.
- One fat beat = locked.
Try matching with your eyes closed, then check the needle to see how close you got.
Taking the training wheels off
- Auto — TEMPO transition + SYNC do everything (learn the workflow first).
- Tempo by trainer — SYNC off; match tempo with the hint, align with the needle. (This tutorial.)
- Phase by ear — match tempo with the trainer, align by sound, glance to confirm.
- Fully by ear — ignore the trainer until you're locked, then peek to check.
Common mistakes
- SYNC left on. The trainer will tell you — turn it off to actually practise.
- Nudging before the tempo is matched. Match tempo first (needle stops sliding), then align.
- Over-nudging. Small taps — the needle should crawl to centre, not jump past it.
- Wildly different tracks. Start within a few BPM; big gaps can exceed the ±16% fader range.
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