A hurdy-gurdy is a stringed instrument with a keyboard and a wheel that acts as a bow and is drawn across the strings continuously by turning a handle or crank. On a hurdy-gurdy, there are two types of strings: drone or bourdon strings, which play the same pitch continuously, and melody strings, which change pitch as the keyboard is adjusted. Tuning pegs are used to adjust both types of strings. A hurdy-keyboard gurdy’s is set up similarly to a piano’s keyboard.
The name hurdy-gurdy was also incorrectly applied to the barrel organ, possibly because it, too, was played by turning a crank, causing some confusion. The hurdy-gurdy is also known as Bauernleier, chifonie, ghironda, Leier, lyra, organistrum, rotata, sambuca, and sinfonia, which makes the name situation even more confusing.
In the world of music, the hurdy-gurdy has played many different roles. Street musicians, beggars, church music, dance accompaniment at public celebrations and weddings, parades, ballet orchestration, salon gatherings, chamber music, and operas have all used it. It was used by Rameau, Donizetti, and both Leopold and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in works for hurdy-gurdy.
The singer Donovan’s song “The Hurdy Gurdy Man” recently brought the instrument into the spotlight, and yes, there is now a jazz hurdy-gurdy. Nigel Eaton, Mike Eaton, Steve Tyler, Michael Muskett, Valentin Clastrier, Gaston Rivière, Patrick Bouffard, Gilles Chabenat, Marc Anthony, Cliff Stapleton, and Duncan Moss are among the notable players.
There are several hurdy-gurdy festivals, including the Saint Chartier Festival, which takes place in the summer and includes competitions, and the Lancaster Hurdy-gurdy Festival, which began in 2007. The Over the Water Hurdy-Gurdy Festival, held in Fort Flagler State Park in Washington in the fall, claims to have the largest band of hurdy-gurdies in the Western Hemisphere.