Catching a break in a song is an advanced djing skill that requires lots of practice. Basically   catching a break means manually splicing music in realtime with your turntable or output device. Before you can catch a break you should understand the basics of beat mixing and cue scratching on a turntable.

In order to be a real street dj it is mandatory for you to have complete control of the music rolling on the turntable.  That means that you should be able to stop, start and cue a song anywhere on a record on perfect beat.

For simplicity sake, there are two things that you have to keep in mind when attempting to catch a break of a song;

1. Will the shock value manifest from the splice?
2. Can I do this on beat?

With the new technology in dj equipment in regards to beat mixing like Final Scratch and the Numark CDX table top cd /turntable players , keeping the needle to the record is becoming less of a challenge. So I will not speak much on weighs on needles and tone arm settings. But if you are having a hard time keeping the needle on the record when you scratch or triple thread a record then you need to put more weight on the head(penny) of the tone arm and/or develop more finesse when touching the turntable.

When attempting to catch a break you need to know where the snare and the bass of a record intersects with the needle. Example below.

As you can see a well made record will speak volumes of information to a knowledgeble street dj. The rule is that if you catch a snare then you should be about 45 degrees from a bass. That is of course that drum track is normal.  If you happen to run across an abnormal record format then you will have to mark the places of interest on the record label with tape or a marker.

A good street dj never scratches or triple threads too much.  Try to do advanced cutting techniques only to enhance the music, not to just show your skill. You can showcase your talent best by your music  selection and song blending at the right moment to keep the groove of the mix.