Cueing the record is something that always starts out as a weird experience. Watching a pro cue effortlessly is one thing but doing it properly is always a little tricky at first. Don't worry though cueing is easy.

Get loose

First you must be comfortable touching, holding, and grabbing the record. You want to keep your fingers off the song grooves as much as possible but still apply enough pressure not to loose hold when moving your arms.

You never want to be jerky went cueing or too quick to backspin. Always move the record back and forth in a smooth but controlled manner. If you are too hard you risk creating skips in the vinyl or wearing out the grooves (which will sound really bad).

Spread your hands

When cueing it is usually a good idea to have one hand on the record (to cue) and one hand on the pitch control. This way you can immediately adjust your record to a close tempo, then fine tune. You can usually tell within 4 bar (16 beats) how far off you are and get in the ballpark of where you should be. Don't forget to bring the record back to the beginning often. Most dance records have a beat intro that lasts until the track actually kicks in. This is usually where you are supposed to mix. It's called the mix point or, if it's in the middle of the record, the mix break.

Don't stray from the mix points.(unless you know what's up)

Here's why! When making CAD music (Computer Assisted Music) in a studio there is usually one computer that tells all the other machines what to play and when to play it. This is called a sequencer. As you make the sequencer play more and more instruments at once, the processing load increases and the computer may slow down in tempo a little, then speed back up as instruments stop playing. Older PCs are notorious for this, and yes Macs do it too. This is not very perceptible to the human ear but still present in the recording and it can make your mixes harder to control. So when you are cueing make sure you don't stray too far from the part of the record you will be mixing unless you want to make an extra long mix to impress the gods, but if you are reading this you might not quite be up to that level yet so start easy.

Spot the groove

Look at where you put the needle carefully. All records have a "finger print". the song has more in it where the lines (grooves) are closer together. The breaks are in areas that look darker and with less lines. Pay attention to the grooves and you will eventually be able to place the needle at the right point on all your records.

Catch the beat.

Find the first kick drum or sound that hits on the first beat of the song. if you decide to use a snare don't forget that snares hit on the second count. sometimes records have intros that make it hard to figure out where the rythm is. Trance records with big synth intros are notorious for this. It is imperative that you know where you are in the beat structure of the song.

If you want, you can find you cueing beat by letting the record play up to it. After a couple of times you'll be able to drop the needle pretty close to where you want it. when the record gets to the beat you want stop the record by putting your fingers near the edge of the record. Don't be nervous. Now move the record back and forth on that beat so you can get a good feel for it. practice letting the record go and stopping it with your hand. Congratulations You are now DR. cue. Next up for you is the art of beat mixing !

Trivia. If you move the record back and forth and listen in your headphones you are cueing. If you do the same thing but you also letting everyone else hear what you are doing you are scratching. Go nuts mixmaster !