Turntablism
Forward scratch
A forward scratch is a baby scratch with the return silenced: push the record forward with the fader open, then close the fader before pulling it back. Only the forward half is heard.
In practice
Close the fader on the way back and the scratch becomes a stab you can drop into a running mix.
Time the close to the moment the forward motion ends, not to the moment the pull begins — a fraction late and you hear the front of the return, which is the tell. The mirror version, silencing the push and keeping the pull, is the backward scratch and is worth learning in the same session because it forces the fader hand to work against the record hand rather than with it. Both are far easier with a sharp crossfader curve and a fader that has been cleaned recently; a sticky fader adds a few milliseconds you cannot compensate for.
Push heard
Fader open
Return silent
Fader closed
One cycle
One close, one open
Where these come from: Technique convention, not catalog figures — nothing we store describes how a sound was performed. For what we can measure, see the two-hand grammar behind it.
Why it matters
It is the first scratch where the fader hand has a job, and the job is simple enough to learn in an evening — one close, one open, once per cycle. That makes it the bridge between the record hand working alone and the fader patterns everything else depends on.
Musically it is also the most useful of the basic scratches, because a one-directional sound reads as a rhythmic stab rather than as a scratch. It sits inside a mix in a way a two-way baby scratch does not.
Frequently asked
What is the difference between a forward and a baby scratch?+
The fader. A baby scratch leaves it open so both directions sound; a forward scratch closes it on the way back, so only the push is heard.
What is a backward scratch?+
The mirror image — the fader is closed on the push and open on the pull, so only the backward motion sounds. Same coordination, opposite phase.
Can you do a forward scratch on a controller?+
Yes, if the platter responds to touch in vinyl mode and the crossfader has a sharp curve. The fader matters more than the platter for this one.
Related terms
Baby scratch
The baby scratch is the first one anyone learns: push the record forward and pull it back in time with the beat, fader open throughout. No fader work at all — only the hand.
Scratch
A scratch is a sound made by moving a record back and forth under the needle while the crossfader or channel fader cuts it in and out. The hand sets the pitch; the fader sets the rhythm.
Chirp scratch
A chirp starts with the fader open and closes it at the end of the forward push, then opens it partway through the pull back. Cutting off the tail of each motion is what makes the sound.
Crossfader
The crossfader is the horizontal fader that blends between two channels. At one end you hear only the left assignment, at the other only the right, and a curve control sets how abruptly the handover happens in between.
Explore: Mixing guides · Score a transition · Baby scratch · All DJ terms