01 / FROM MOVEMENT TO HARMONY
What are air chords?
Air chords turn movements in front of a camera into musical harmony. Instead of pressing three piano keys together, you make one hand shape and hear a whole chord. You can hold it underneath a sung melody, move to another chord, or simply explore how the changes feel. The camera reads your movements; the instrument makes the sound.
Here you will use Gesture Synth’s Sing & Play, with four ready-to-play chords: C, G, Am and F. This is a hands-on starting exercise, not a song transcription or a guitar chord finder. Other gesture instruments use different controls, so follow the hand map below when playing on gesture-synth.com.
You do not need music theory to start. A chord is several notes sounding together; changing the chord changes the harmony underneath your voice. First learn to start and stop one sound. Then add a second chord. Keeping a simple change steady is more useful than rushing through every setting.
02 / SET THE CAMERA, THEN MAKE A SOUND
Start your first hand-controlled chord
Open the four-chord practice
The practice link selects Sing & Play and the default C–G–Am–F bank, while leaving sound, camera and microphone off. Look for Air chords practice above the instrument. Follow that bank’s finger-count controls; the general Melody tutorial farther down the home page describes a different mode. Choose Start Camera when ready and allow camera access. Use a recent browser with camera support; Chrome or Edge on a laptop is a practical starting point.
Give both hands room
Place the device on a steady surface. Face a light source rather than sitting in front of a bright window. Keep your face and both hands comfortably inside the camera view, with space above your wrists. Start around an arm’s length away and adjust until tracking is steady.
Raise one left-hand finger
Keep your left thumb folded and raise your index finger. Keep the right hand visible, around the middle of the picture. After the shape settles, the first slot plays C major. Hold still and listen. Close your left hand into a fist to stop before trying again.
Start with a comfortable Volume setting. If you cannot hear anything, check the device’s sound output before raising it. Camera permission alone does not guarantee a note: the correct hand shape and both tracked hands are also needed. Use the no-camera option below to check sound separately.
03 / TWO HANDS, TWO JOBS
The air chords hand map
In Four chords, the number of raised non-thumb fingers on your left hand chooses a numbered slot. Keep the thumb folded, especially for slot four: a fully spread five-finger hand is a rest. These schematic shapes show the four finger counts, rather than a moving performance.
- C1 finger · slot 1
Thumb folded - G2 fingers · slot 2
Thumb folded - Am3 fingers · slot 3
Thumb folded - F4 fingers · slot 4
Thumb folded
Left hand: choose the chord
One finger selects C; two select G; three select Am; four select F in this starting bank. Keep the shape stable while listening. A fist rests. The number chooses a slot, not the number of notes in its chord.
Right hand: shape the sound
Raise your right hand to make the chord louder and lower it to soften it. Tilt the wrist to change the tone. Both hands must remain tracked. Begin with small movements so you can hear one change at a time.
This differs from Melody and Easy Jam, where a thumb-and-index pinch starts sound. Do not pinch while following this finger-count exercise. Free chords is another Sing & Play mode with seven degrees and its own controls; keep Four chords selected for this guide.
04 / A SMALL PHRASE YOU CAN FINISH
Play C–G–Am–F without rushing
The four chords below are the untouched starting bank. Leave their settings as they are for your first attempt. C, G and F are major chords; Am means A minor. You are practicing this short progression, not reproducing a particular song or following an automatic backing track.
FOUR COUNTS PER CHORD · COUNT AT YOUR OWN PACE
C → G → Am → F
Left fingers: 1 → 2 → 3 → 4. Keep the thumb folded. Each chord gets “one, two, three, four.”
Hold C for four slow counts, make a fist to leave a brief rest, then show two fingers for G. Repeat with three fingers for Am and four for F. Keep the right hand near the same height. If changing fingers briefly selects another slot, pause with a fist and rebuild the next shape deliberately.
After one round, repeat the sequence without increasing the speed. Listen for four distinct harmonies and a clear ending. Then try quieter right-hand movement while holding C. Separate chord choice, timing and expression until each feels predictable. Sing & Play does not supply a metronome or count-in for this exercise.
Want different chords after this feels familiar? The custom chord guide explains editing individual slots and inversions. For a timed four-bar loop with MIDI download, use the separate Easy Jam and Beat Jam exercise; it uses a different control map.
05 / LEARN THE SOUND FIRST
Try the same chords without a webcam
Open the practice and choose Use Mouse Mode on desktop, or Play without camera on a phone. Use the four numbered chord buttons beneath the playing area. A quick click or tap sustains a chord; click the active button again to stop it. Choose another button to change chords. A press held longer than a quarter-second sounds temporarily and stops on release.
In this mode, moving within the playing pad shapes volume and tone; it does not choose the chord slot. Play the C–G–Am–F exercise with the buttons first if camera tracking feels distracting. You will hear the same chord bank as the hand-controlled version. The short example at the top was recorded this way, without camera or microphone input.
Use headphones if the device’s speakers make the sound hard to judge. Wired headphones can avoid the extra delay some Bluetooth devices introduce. When you return to the camera, keep the chord settings unchanged so the only new skill is the gesture.
06 / PLAY FIRST, ADD YOUR VOICE WHEN READY
Sing over the chords and record a take
You can sing while playing without turning on the microphone; your voice will simply remain outside the recording. To include it, enable the optional microphone, allow access and check its level. Your live voice stays out of the speakers, which helps avoid feedback. Keep the microphone off when recording only the instrument.
The practice starts with a 15-second recording option. Sing & Play also offers 120 seconds when you need longer. Choose the duration before recording, press Record, perform the changes and stop the clip when finished. Play the local preview to check the opening, chord changes and ending before deciding to export.
Playing, recording and full local preview are free without signing in. Video export requires Google or email/password sign-in, then a single US$9.99 payment or an available recording from a pack. Prices and included counts appear before payment; there is no subscription. A paid or pack-unlocked recording remains downloadable for 30 days. Keep the tab open while reviewing an unsaved take.
Camera tracking runs on your device. Recordings stay local until you choose to save one for purchase; that step uploads the recording privately. Read the privacy policy for the full details. The recording and saving guide explains the export steps and recovery options.
07 / CHECK ONE THING AT A TIME
If the chord is silent or keeps changing
- No sound in either input mode: check the selected audio output, instrument Volume and whether you started an input mode. Try one chord button before investigating camera tracking.
- Buttons work but gestures do not: confirm both hands are in view, the left thumb is folded and Four chords is selected. Improve front lighting and hold one shape steadily.
- Slot four stays silent: fold the left thumb rather than spreading all five fingers. Show four non-thumb fingers and keep the right hand tracked.
- The wrong chord sounds: return to the untouched practice bank in a fresh visit, or check each slot’s settings. Editing a slot changes what that finger count plays.
If camera access is unavailable, continue with the buttons instead of repeatedly reloading. The phone and tablet guide has device-specific setup advice. Stop the instrument when finished so the camera and held sounds are released.
08 / QUICK ANSWERS
Air chords questions
What are air chords?
Air chords are chords played through hand movements in the air. In this guide, your webcam reads your left-hand finger count to choose a chord, while your right hand controls its volume and tone. The browser produces the sound; you do not need a physical keyboard.
Is Air Chords another name for Gesture Synth?
People use air chords to describe playing harmony with gestures. Gesture Synth is the browser instrument used on this page. Other apps may use similar words and different controls, so use this guide with gesture-synth.com rather than assuming every gesture instrument works the same way.
Can I play without a camera?
Yes. Open the practice and choose Use Mouse Mode on desktop or Play without camera on a phone. The four numbered chord buttons play C, G, Am and F. Tap once to sustain, tap the active button again to stop, or choose another chord to change it.
Do I need to sing or turn on my microphone?
No. You can play only the synthesized chords. Sing & Play supports optional microphone recording, but the microphone starts off. Enable it only when you want your voice included in a recording; your voice is not played back through the live speakers.
Is it free to play and record?
Playing, recording and full local preview are free without an account. Downloading or sharing a performance video requires Google or email/password sign-in and a single US$9.99 export or an available pack recording. Pack prices and counts appear before payment. There is no subscription.
Why do my fingers make single notes instead of chords?
Check Play style: this exercise needs Sing & Play, then Chord mode: Four chords. Melody uses a different pinch-and-position map. The practice link selects the correct chord mode before you start, but you still choose Start Camera or Mouse Mode yourself.