take two records that you dont love
you will get sick of them
and practice matching only those two
I usually cue my track to the 2nd beat
so after a breakdown you can throw it fast
practice pitch whipping,
quickly speeding up and slowing down the pitch
to zero in on your target platter speed
never touch the platter or the vinyl after you have thrown it
start again practice above
practice beat matching within 128 beats
then 64 then 32 then 16 then 8 then 4
practice riding the beats
keeping them matched and blended for as long as possible
if you have a breakdown and fade one channel
bring it back in at the drop, they should be lined up perfectly
if not
practice more
take the two records you are good at mixing
grab another record that blends before or after those 2
now you have 4 records to mix
put two more bookends before and after...
eventually you will have a whole set
record your set, listen, where did you mess up
practice more
advanced lessons:
notice what drum machines or synths and blend similar or different together for effect
what key is each record in ? the key changes as it's pitched + or -
match similar keys, mixing musically correct is huge way to increase your worth at your craft
playing out, jump on some friends turntables maybe even a flat party, everything sounds different, get used to new monitors, strange echo's, people dancing, screaming, and giving you shitty requests
have fun but practice everyday
buy vinyl
Beat Matching
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Christ Lewis
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John Clees
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I have a few things to add as well.
1. if you have to touch the record more than 3 times : I adjust the other record slightly. I'm convinced their are ever so slight degree's of tempo that perhaps aren't going to match.. it seems to me at times it's a much needed process that I tend to think it helps greatly.
2. when mixing in the record : adjust the tempo much lower and start from slower to matching the exact tempo.
don't even bother wasting any energy at all over beat batching. richie hawtin : juan atkins : rob hood : or any other professional that beat matches and/or that doesn't use a computer to sync...have been doing it going on 20 years and you still often hear wrecks in their mixes. it's human touch and error. in the end just try to limited it to as little as possible.
1. if you have to touch the record more than 3 times : I adjust the other record slightly. I'm convinced their are ever so slight degree's of tempo that perhaps aren't going to match.. it seems to me at times it's a much needed process that I tend to think it helps greatly.
2. when mixing in the record : adjust the tempo much lower and start from slower to matching the exact tempo.
don't even bother wasting any energy at all over beat batching. richie hawtin : juan atkins : rob hood : or any other professional that beat matches and/or that doesn't use a computer to sync...have been doing it going on 20 years and you still often hear wrecks in their mixes. it's human touch and error. in the end just try to limited it to as little as possible.
... don't be too drastic with the pitch fader and listen before you move!! 
Record all your mixing sessions and give a listen back before you go to bed that night. You'll hear pretty quickly where you are going wrong. Whether it's bringing the new track in too fast every time or too slow, your next practice session you can adjust accordingly. Remember though, the more you enjoy it, the easier things will flow.
