How to find the 1 (one count) | Counting music 

Hi teacher: I was confused most of the time about finding the first beat ! But this is second time I am watching your video and i can understand very easily about the first beat

DJ TLM, I have been DJing for going on 26 years now. I am so glad I found your videos on RU-vid! Your videos are fresh and your teaching style is inspiring. You explain things in a way that even an old rocker like myself can understand. You have obviously honed your craft, and your passion for sharing your skills with others sets you apart from the crowd. Thank you for opening my eyes to some things I had never thought of. I love DJ TLM TV. Keep the videos coming. Thanks again.

I’ve been Dj’ing for 2 years now but i haven’t grown as a DJ. In other words, I’ve just been mixing but not learning new skills. But I’m going back to the basics of Dj’ing and starting from scratch again.

@ ForgottenGames GR: I can't reply to your comment directly so I hope you read this. I did not fully understand your question. Are you asking me how to select your next song to play when you're mixing?

If you know when to start dancing after a breakdown ends, then you know where the one is. Counting beats did not come naturally to me, but if you try counting the beats EVERY time you hear music being played, you'll get the hang of it pretty quick.

never commented on youtube, but really got to say, very useful tutorials!! Thank you so much DJ TLM!

I've been playing a musical instrument for years (woodwind). Counting has always been the most difficult thing for me. I thought I was the only person in the world who was beat-deaf. Thanks...this helps! It actually was never taught to me. I guess my music instructor way been in school taught it to the drummers and just assumed the rest of us could pick up on it.

Hey man I have been watching a few tutorials here and there, your not the only "one"(see what i did there) but you are definitely top of the list of teachers ive seen. Thank you from 2 years after!

Sensei 🙏🏾

The best thing I found that helped me find the 1 count was counting beats bars & phrases. At first I started by counting A 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 / B 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 / C 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 / D 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 at the end of that counting is the one count. Sometimes if I didn't know where the one count was I would start anywhere and if I heard a signifier (drum fill, crash, vocal change, instrumental change, chord progression restart/change) I would restart my counting. After a while I progressed my counting methods to 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 / 2 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 / 3 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 / 4 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 then onto 1 2 3 4 / 2 2 3 4 / 3 2 3 4 / 4 2 3 4 / 5 2 3 4 / 6 2 3 4 / 7 2 3 4 / 8 2 3 4. Every song I listened to I repeated this process. After a while hearing the 1 count will become second nature. A little while later I started being able to predict the last 4 & 8 beats preceding the one count. Your ear will actually start to prompt you even when you're not counting to prepare for a drop / change etc. - Have some fun with it, change it up a bit if you like too, add half counting, quarter counting etc (eg. 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 / 2 e and a 3 e and a 4 e and a... etc)

This is why it is so important to listen to every track you purchase and practice your sets b4 you play at your gig. I know there are freestyle DJs out there but you should at least listen to your music. TLM freestyle but I am certain he is aware of the tracks he plays.

Thanks TLM!!! Was watching Share the Knowledge and came back to watch this vid for a refresher!! Appreciate you brotha.

DjTLM you are too much i really appreciate ur works am new in Djing i have followed ur tutorials and now i think am doing better learning from u regards from Ghana Dj Kabs

Thanks for sharing the knowledge. I will admit with some electro/ House music, without vocals or a melody, it takes time to listen for the phrase change. Some are obvious. Some are not.

TLM-Can't thank you enough for posting your tutorials. I really enjoy your channel. I'm new to dj'ing and finding the one, and trying to hit the drop transition point has been difficult for me with vocal heavy music like hip-hop and pop. Your videos on beat counting, timing, and transitions really have helped greatly. After watching this video, I've been listening to my library on a random shuffle, and getting used to finding the one from various points in a track to simulate having to quickly find the one while dj'ing. Your instruction on this really is on point. I thought I knew my music before, but your advice has caused me to hear the composition on another level. Thank you so much, glad to support your music. Best wishes for continued success!

1234,2234,3234,4234,,(1)..an it switch on that last 1 ..an depending on how fast or slow the beat is matter to so if its a slow beat the count is slow if it's a fast beat you gotta count fast

You make us very easy and ur very detailing.much love am your new fan bro.

Very perfect and precise verbal teaching bro 💯🙌 thank you

Anyone needing more help on how to count beats in bar, try tapping on a table or beat boxing beats out and counting them. I grew up beat boxing for freestylers, and it really helped me when i started djing.

Thank You!! I've been looking for something that made sense on how to count music (your last video) and how to find the top of the music. Others I've watched haven't helped but, you have clarified if for me thank you! I just started teaching exercise and needed to learn how to count and how to find the top of the music using 32 and 8 counts.

4/4 beats are easy. It can get technical when you try to bring in the next track from the 1st beat but that 1st happens to start on the 4. Or the 3. Their are tracks out there that do that.

Really useful for aerobic / zumba instructor 👍👍👍👍 Tq so much

Nice vid bro! Good to see that you use the same method to find the 1 as I do.

Serato Dj users that are having trouble finding the one can use cue point markers to mark the beginning of all the courses or hooks.

Dancer here. Thanks for the count. On the 1. Nj-usa. Peacr

Neo, where are you?!

Can you do a mixing tutorial in terms of bars and the one and techniques for latin music? mernegue cumbia salsa etc

Find the one in some old techno tunes!! I still have trouble with them especially when u don't know the tune. Some times you have to wait for a major change. It's defo a feeling thing

thanks, i do swing and have great problems differentiating between the 5 and 1 beats but this vid was helpful thanks

ok so the one starts useally on a change in the music like the vocals comes in that would start a new phrase or when the music goes through a change like a cymbal crash or a kick drum starts. or something similar.

thanks for the video my man... huge help, still trying to work on my transitions....

I'm noticing some tracks the 1 doesn't always drop on the bar in serato... do you use the 1 or the bar line?

One minute in I love you!

lot's of times though the change takes place later in the 1st bar of the new phase, like u get a hat after the 4th kick of the 1st bar , so how can you not miss the 1 then? gr8 vid thx

Love what you're doing for the DJ community. I'm just getting started, and your videos are my go-to for learning. I tell all my aspiring DJ's about your site - huge thanks! I'm looking for your playlist where I can download beats, etc. but can't find it. Am I blind or has it been taken down? If you would be so kind to post the direct URL I would be very grateful. Keep on spinning!

Thanks for the information. I was unknowingly doing what you described. I was completely ignorant to the structure of music, no musical background or training, and your videos have helped a bunch. I've watched most, if not all, of your tutorials. When is your FX tutorial coming out?

QUESTION: If you want to mix from song one and song number two and you want to start song number two on a certain part. Now this part does NOT start one a ONE. If this is the case do you still drop on the one or do you drop on the count before where song 2 starts?

Hey tlm nice video ... I would like know how to select the identical song to play next .. Like if i should match the sounds by the type of beat or the instruments... I would like to know because people may find intresting a sound but changing into another that is a bit different may be disapointed... Thanks...

Hey TLM. I've been playing around with my mixtrack pro for years now. I haven't really made it to the point that I would play in a club or bar but lately I've been thinking of really stepping up my game and maybe aim for a local bar. I'm into 70s 80s and 90s new wave stuff. earth wind and fire, swing out sister etc. Basically my mom and dad's music. I learned about phrasing from your video and I learned how to mix in the next track. I usually hit my play button when the chorus comes in from track one and end the mix after the chorus and go to track 2. I have 2 problems. 1.) My beatmatching is okay but I always get tempted by the waveform. My dad is an oldschool DJ back in the day but he tells me I should use whatever is available and that its okay to use the waveform as my guide. I really wanna be able to beatmatch perfectly and know which way to nudge the platter everytime something goes off beat. I was wondering if you have tips on how I improve my beatmatching? Or is it perfected through experience? There was this one time that I just moved my pitch down after hearing the song go off beat and it beatmatched. Thought that was cool. 2.) When it comes to starting track 2, I saw some DJs start on the 5. Or the second 1. Thought I'd try this out but can't really figure it out. I'm more of a visual learner so whenever I get tips from DJs, I really can' understand it until I see it for myself. I was taught counting in a bar, while the DJ was playing and didn't make sense of it until I saw your video. Thanks man!

How long should a scratch technique take before dropping a song on the other deck

Great video! I have a question. How come for example Boiler Room DJ's when they play their sets and it's recorded and uploaded to RU-vid, the RU-vid itself does not take down this videos even though it contains various music. Can't you use various music? If i recall correctly you once said that you can't. Thanks in advance and keep up the great work! :)

Great video again. I would really be great full if you could make a video about scratching in the incoming track versus fading or blending. I'm having trouble switching up my incoming scratch patterns and I'm wondering should I stop doing it all together.

how's it going DJ TIM this is DJ in the groove, hope all is well I've got a question for you, is there any way on Serato DJ I can color code the parts where I can do my transition on the one?

I sometimes get problems when im in the drop of a track which is lets say 8 phrases long. Because I mostly mix liquid DnB, there wont be a big change in the drop it self. So if I wanted to start a transition right at the end of the drop (where the "cooldown phase" sets in) I often dont know how much time/bars I have left, because I cant point out a spot where I could say: yeah, thats the one... Do you have any suggestions on that? Example Tracks: Sigma - Paint it Black Netsky - Memory Lane Bcee - Fire Box (at around 4:20) Sorry for spelling mistakes, isnt my native language.

What about songs that don’t start on a “ 1 “ like Sexy Back or I wanna be your lover etc. how do I find what count the song starts on do I count backwards from the one.

Thanks so much, you do such a good work teaching the world about djing, thanks so much 🙏🙏

Thanks

WHEN THERE R 2 BARS WITH A LIL DIFFRENCE PLAYING SIMULTANEOUSLY, then shud I count that whole as one bar or count it two bars as same. I STILL HAVE SAME QUESTION PLEASE REPLY

Iv never heard that beat before .. And I found the 1 right off .. See my dad taught to DJ at a very young age and its second nature to me .. And I never called it the 1 .. It was just the time to drop the second track bc it would sound & flow the best for biggest impact. My question to you is if you don't naturally don't have the skill to hear the beat and find the 1 , can it be taught ? Can someone that likes music be taught to be a good DJ ?

Thank you :) Can you pls do a video on how to get yourself an agent? where to look etc

So if my bpm is the same. And I start a beat of one song and mix it into the start of the chorus of another and vise versa... Thats all I really need to know right ?

djTLMtv I have no problem counting music I've been DJing since 95 or so I've noticed some rappers start they bars on the two how do you handle this when djing/beatmatching do you still drop it on the 1 or drop it on the two to keep the song intact

I've been a musician for 45+ years. Mostly studio work, soundtracks, jingles, production work for a diverse list of professional music labels for different artists and stage gigs as well. There is nothing wrong about been a DJ. But my best recommendation to dominate this particular topic with real authority is: get real basic music theory classes. So you can understand the rhythm in the way you are supposed, not using bogus short cuts or vapid tricks. Perhaps through doing it you might feel interested in learning to play a real music instrument and you might be a lot more creative and productive than what you are right now just pushing a play and pause button and changing CD's of pre-recorded music made by real musicians. What I say is: "In the same way making photocopies on a Xerox machine doesn't make you an book author, playing recorded music thru an audio reproduction system doesn't makes you a musician." I'm just doing an extremely simple academic logical analysis of the tasks. Now don't take me wrong, I don't have any issues with what DJ's do. I like to hear pre-recorded music, if is good and if it have some real meaning. But, if what you really like to do in life is to push the play button, then just keep pushing it like a maniac and stay on that stage for ever! Follow your passion but do it with all your heart. And the 1st pulse of the count is right there on the first pulse the bar that belongs to the 1st bar of each part of the song.

Great instruction! Thanks for the vids brother

So if u understoond it right you should start your next song at the beginning of a phrase?

Me bieng a 13 year, and as a dj. It is very hard to try and get gigs. How do I get people to take me seriously because i believe i have talent to prove them wrong.

You find THE 1 on soundcloud, which is me! Was that good selfpromotion TLM?

Thank you!!🙏🏻

Yes! That's what I'm dealing with at the moment! Thanks!

So I watched one of his other videos. And had to watch this one bc there is nothing comparable.

Have you appear on De Avondploeg?

You are the best!!!

I am having trouble finding the 1 like how do you do that

love this pls how can i download the video

is that download of beat still available ?

beat nice..vid great

this is so good

how can I find a chorus

I'm dancer how can I improve my musicalty

So... this might be a stupid question, but.. what is BPM?

Novice at this and I don't notice the beat change on 3:14. I've been playing and can't get a grasp of this

It’s like double Dutch

#HappyAirMaxDay!

you in N.Y??

cant find it

nice...i subconsciously knew this from salsa class...lool. no wonder why i was transition to the next music on time....lool

Find the 1 st beat in bollywood bro

Bigboutya dunno Rastafari

Deafly need more examples of finding the one and hot cue it

What? You know the beat but we also "should be able" to recognize where it stars"?? Really? And why you have shoes in your music shelves? Sorry, may be he's a cool guy, but this is Ridiculous

You said the one count only one time ,in over 6 minutes: not helpful!

You wasted lot of time and footage man, get to the point stop yapping.

you are the shit bro! theory done simple and right, wish you all the best

djTLMtv I have no problem counting music I've been DJing since 95 or so I've noticed some rappers start they bars on the two how do you handle this when djing/beatmatching do you still drop it on the 1 or drop it on the two to keep the song intact