Gesture Synth Chords: Degrees, Minor Tilt and Voicings
Short answer: the left hand's finger count selects the scale degree, a twenty-degree inward tilt flips major and minor, and the right hand's finger count picks root position, first inversion, second inversion or an added seventh. This page lists every gesture synth chord and gives three progressions to practise.
Degrees and gestures
HandSynth thinks in scale degrees, the Roman numerals musicians use, rather than in fixed chord names. That way a gesture means the same thing in every key. In C major the degrees are C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am and Bdim. Change the key to G and the same seven gestures give G, Am, Bm, C, D, Em and F#dim.
| Left hand | Degree | Quality | C | G | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Index | I | major | C | G | F |
| Index + middle | ii | minor | Dm | Am | Gm |
| Three fingers | iii | minor | Em | Bm | Am |
| Four fingers | IV | major | F | C | Bb |
| Open hand | V | major | G | D | C |
| Index + pinky | vi | minor | Am | Em | Dm |
| Index + pinky + thumb | vii° | diminished | Bdim | F#dim | Edim |
The minor tilt
Lean the chord hand toward the middle of the screen by about twenty degrees and the quality flips: major becomes minor, minor becomes major, and the diminished vii becomes minor. The readout shows the result immediately, for example i instead of I. Tilting is easier to control than it sounds: keep the wrist still and rotate from the forearm, and watch the skeleton overlay change angle.
Common uses: play I with the tilt for a minor-key feel; play IV with the tilt for the "sad IV" (iv) at the end of a phrase; play vi with the tilt for a bright VI that leads back to ii or IV.
Voicings from the right hand
- One finger: root position, the plain triad.
- Two fingers: first inversion, third in the bass. Smooths I to vi and IV to ii.
- Three fingers: second inversion, fifth in the bass. Good for the V before returning home.
- Four fingers: adds the diatonic seventh. V7 pulls to I; ii7 to V7 to I is the jazz cadence.
- Thumb out: drops the chord an octave.
HandSynth keeps every chord inside a comfortable register, so an inversion never jumps into a shrill range. If you hear the same notes when changing voicing, you are already at the top of the range; drop the octave with the thumb.
Three progressions to practise
I, V, vi, IV
Index, open hand, index plus pinky, four fingers. One bar each at 80 BPM. Nearly every chart pop chorus.
ii, V, I
Two fingers, open hand, index. Add the seventh with four right-hand fingers on all three for the jazz version, and hold the I for two bars.
vi, IV, I, V
Index plus pinky, four fingers, index, open hand. The same four chords as the first progression starting on the minor chord, which is why it sounds wistful. Tilt the final V for a surprise v.
Keyboard and mouse equivalents
On the keyboard, the number keys 1 to 7 are the degrees, Shift is the tilt, and Q W E R are the four voicings. With a mouse or a finger, the stage is split into seven columns from I to vii, and Shift or a second finger flips the quality. The how-to-play guide covers the rest of the controls; the air theremin is where to go for melodies over these chords.
Questions
- Why does the same gesture give a minor chord in one key and major in another?
- It does not. Degrees keep their diatonic quality in every major key: I, IV and V are major, ii, iii and vi are minor, vii is diminished. Changing the key transposes all of them together.
- Can I get a dominant seventh?
- Yes. Show four fingers on the right hand while holding V. HandSynth uses the diatonic seventh, so V7 is dominant, I7 and IV7 are major sevenths, and the minor degrees get minor sevenths.
- Can I play a chord outside the key?
- Only through the minor tilt, which flips the quality of any degree. That covers borrowed chords such as iv in a major key or a major IV in a minor feel, which is most of what pop and film music borrows.
Ready when you are
Raise a hand and play.
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