check out DJ angelo tutorials on youtube, he has about 15 videos, start there, asian looking dude

That's the hardest part of djing

My suggestion would be to learn from the best.

DJ Q-Bert DIY Scratching Vol.01 is a very comprehensive guide as to how to break down the cuts so you understand not only the sounds but the mechanics of how to make them sounds too.

Very good for beginners, But you will need to add your own flavour to it or risk sounding like every other person who bought the video.

Its a great place to start tho.

thanks :)

My best advice is to practice, practice, practice. Dj at least 20 mins a day, just scratching. You will get better, but looking at other djs on youtube can be good to :)

Ive been djing for 20 plus and lately needed something to keep me practing again so ive been doing it like 30 minutes or a hour everyday and it gets better trust me. it sthe hardest part. i can blend with my eyes close and scratch a little but i want to be good not average so just keep practing.

+1000000000

Dj angelo has the best tutorials ive ever watched. he breakes everything down step by step.

But my advice to you is to practice with BOTH hands. Im right handed and always scratched left handed and cut right handed, then when id try to switch it up, i couldnt ever get my left hand to cut the fader right. It was akward and the coordination just wasnt there. After about a few months of seriously practicing it, i finally got the coordination down and now i can drop and lead on my right turntable, while i keep the left deck for instrumentals and beats. If you want to learn to scratch, then learn on both right and left sides. Your weak hand will need more practice on the fader, but your strong hand will ultimately be better/quicker on the wax.

I scratch hampster lefty though im right handed (left hand on record / right on fader + hampster style) ...it's like pumping goofy footed on a skateboard and then riding on it fakey.

anyway, for those who do it hampster style, i've found www.studioscratches.com to be perfect due to her nature of scratching in this exact form and she's quite a beast.

If it itches, scratch it (nh)

I never really cared for scratching with hampster faders. Feels kinda wishy washy to me. Im trying to learn to crab with my left hand because i can do quicker stabs with my right hand on the record than with my left (like triplet patterns n such) and makes really nice sounding combos from crabs to triplets beat pattern stabs.

thanks for all the feedback :) been looking at dj angelo. working my way through tutorials but its like starting to dj all over again haha its a nightmare but practise makes for perfection :)

also try to find some real battle/break (vinyl) records to practice with.
(or at least use abs. mode)
it will help with not being too heavy handed,
and though the latency in getting better in SSL i still notice an ever so slight lag when doing fast chirps, etc.
-most important - as long as you are having fun, you will progress...

+1 on using real vinyl, the lag is barely noticeable but its is there.

& its not just the fast cuts, the really slow ones r just the same, Having said that My advice would be to practice the cuts on serato to get them down, then move to real vinyl to get a feather light touch. This will also make you more rouonded so that if the surprise opertunity arises & they only have real vinyl & no serato, you can still hold your own.

Thanks O.B.1 and Nicky :) will do that also trying to get some time to get a lesson with an ex DMC champ/ runner up , he is amazing :) don't want to take things that far but defo want to improve . Cheers