Play Chords with a Gesture Chord Player

Choose a Chord with the Left Hand

Start the camera and hold your left hand where the whole palm and wrist are visible. The recognized shape maps to scale degrees I through VII in the selected key. Changing key transposes the available harmony without changing the gesture system, so one learned shape can serve the same harmonic role in every key.

Hold each shape briefly instead of flicking between finger counts. The live display shows the recognized degree and current chord label. If it changes unexpectedly, separate your fingers, face the palm more clearly toward the camera and improve front lighting.

Shape the Chord with the Right Hand

The right-hand finger count selects the available quality or voicing: triads, inversions and seventh-chord colors are available according to the current chord world and settings. Raise the thumb to shift the voicing down an octave when you want a heavier bass register.

Finger recognition and volume share the same hand, so make one change at a time. Set the finger shape first, keep it readable, then move the whole right hand vertically to adjust loudness. Tilt the wrist gradually to darken or brighten the filter.

See the complete control reference →

Practice Simple Chord Progressions

Begin with a two-chord loop such as I–IV, then add V when both shapes feel reliable. Lower the right hand between changes to soften recognition mistakes. Once the left-hand sequence is steady, keep the right-hand quality constant and use height to phrase each chord.

A useful next step is I–V–vi–IV in a major world. Watch the Roman-numeral display instead of memorizing one set of note names. This keeps the harmonic pattern recognizable when you transpose to another key.

Build the progression in two layers of control. In C, first practise the left-hand route I–IV–V–I while keeping one right-hand finger raised for the basic quality; the scale guide should highlight C, F, G and C. Then repeat the route and show four right-hand fingers on V to make G7. Once that change is stable, replace the final return to I with a two-finger first inversion and listen for the altered bass colour while the degree remains I. Keep right-hand height unchanged throughout so loudness does not disguise the voicing difference. This short drill demonstrates that root, quality, inversion and expression are separate decisions even though the camera reads them at the same time.

• Learn two left-hand degree shapes before adding more.
• Keep one right-hand quality while practicing the progression.
• Fade volume down during uncertain changes.
• Use the sequencer on the music-generator page when you want to capture a loop.

Improve Chord Recognition

Frame both hands from the wrists upward, avoid sleeves that cover landmarks and keep the hands at different horizontal positions. When hands overlap or leave the picture, the tracker may lose the assigned side and the chord can pause or change.

The app synthesizes audio locally after you press Start. A silent chord is usually caused by tab mute, a low right-hand position or an unrecognized pose rather than missing microphone permission. Use a current desktop browser for the most predictable camera and Web Audio behavior.

Record a chord loop → · Troubleshoot no sound →