Gesture Synth Tutorial: Start, Play Chords and Learn Songs

1. Set Up the Camera and Make the First Sound

Use front-facing light and place the webcam near eye level. Press Start, allow video access and wait until both hand indicators are active. The site should not request microphone access because all sound is synthesized.

In Gesture mode, hold one left-hand finger for degree I. Raise one finger on the right hand for a basic triad, then move the right hand upward until the volume is comfortable. Hold the pose briefly instead of changing fingers quickly.

• If no hands appear, move farther from the camera so wrists and fingertips remain visible.
• If the chord flickers, increase background contrast and separate your fingers.
• If audio is silent, check the tab mute state before raising system volume.

2. Learn the Left- and Right-Hand Roles

The left hand selects degrees I through VII. One to five raised fingers cover I through V; the index-and-little-finger shape selects VI, and adding the thumb selects VII. Changing the key in Settings recalculates the note names while preserving this layout.

The right hand shapes the selected harmony. Finger count chooses a triad, inversion or seventh variation. Height controls volume, wrist angle controls the low-pass filter and the thumb can lower the chord by an octave. Practise changing only one right-hand property at a time.

Open the complete control reference →

3. Try Songs Designed for Gesture Practice

Open Learn after tracking starts and choose a song. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star introduces repeated degrees, Ode to Joy adds stepwise movement, and Amazing Grace practises slower changes with more time to stabilize each pose.

The overlay shows the current target and advances after a correct gesture is held steadily. You can retry, skip, restart and turn on the metronome. Completion data remains local to the current browser and is not attached to an account.

4. Add Theremin and Loop Skills

After the fixed chord shapes feel predictable, switch to Theremin mode. Move the right hand slowly through the pitch range while the left hand controls volume. This teaches smoother motion because every small height change can be heard.

Finally, enable the sequencer and record a short I–V–vi–IV progression. Keep the tempo slow, use the visible count-in and edit a grid step when a camera gesture lands slightly early or late.

A focused first lesson can fit into ten minutes. Spend two minutes confirming camera framing and a quiet degree-I triad, three minutes alternating I and V without changing right-hand height, and two minutes adding degree VI in the minor world. Use the next minute to move only the right wrist and hear the filter while the chord stays fixed. In the final two minutes, open one beginner song and make four target attempts without the metronome. For any missed target, inspect the current property chips before choosing Skip and note which properties do not match; exit after your fourth attempt instead of rushing through the whole song. This sequence moves from recognition to harmony to guided practice while giving each mistake a narrow enough scope to diagnose.

Build a loop in the gesture music generator → · Troubleshoot silent audio →