Meet The Hurdy Gurdy
What do you get when you cross an accordion with a violin, then muffle the sound by putting it in a bagpipe and maybe throw in a kazoo for good measure? You might think it’s a mad music scientist’s experiment gone wrong. In reality, it’s an instrument that sounds part medieval, part Celtic, and wholly amazing. You get a deeply resonant bagpipe-like bass combined with folksy melody that one might call “accordion-adjacent”. You get…a hurdy gurdy. Don’t let the name fool you. Before you read on, have a listen:
Done? Great. Sounds like something from the Game Of Thrones soundtrack, right? Well, that wasn’t lost on artist Patty Gurdy who recorded this:
Let’s dive into what a hurdy gurdy actually is and why more people aren’t listening to it on repeat.
History
The hurdy gurdy originated in Medieval times, getting its origin from a similar but much larger instrument—the organistrum. That’s right, just when you think you’ve heard the most outlandish name for a musical instrument, history throws an even stranger one at you. The organistrum was a large, cumbersome instrument that required two people to play and was not as dynamic as the modern hurdy gurdy. The keys were difficult to operate, which meant that the organistrum was primarily used for slow melodies and simple harmonies.
Over time, the organistrum underwent several design tweaks until the Renaissance period, where instruments that resemble the modern hurdy gurdy started to come about. The instrument was incredibly popular in Europe. Everyone was playing it from street performers to troubadours. Every country had their own name for the instrument, but in England, they insultingly described the music played by it as “hurley burley” which one can assume evolved into the name we know it by today.
How it Works
The hurdy gurdy is a stringed instrument with three main components—a resin wheel, some wooden keys, and the strings—all put together on a frame resembling a lute or boxy shaped guitar. The wheel serves as a kind of bow to the strings so a musician can either turn the crank steadily to get a continuous, straight sound ,or they might get funky, varying the speed and direction of the wheel turn to get unique, jumpy beats like these. On top of turning the wheel, the musician also presses certain keys on the body to change the pitch of certain strings—creating a melody.
Today
Like many aspects of history, the hurdy gurdy has been gaining in popularity recently. (Hey, it’s not the worst thing you could bring back from the past. We’ll gladly resurrect archaic, beautiful art forms like the hurdy gurdy and pansori[1] , but let’s let the 1600s keep their bubonic plague, thank you very much). There are a small handful of musicians today who make their livelihood on being expert players of this unique instrument, like Patty Gurdy—above—who performs the Game of Thrones cover along with other modern songs. Give her a deep listen if you’re into exploring more of what musical ideas can be achieved with such a niche instrument.
If you’re ready to dive even deeper and try your hand at playing one, but you’re too embarrassed to tell people you’re playing the hurdy gurdy, you can call it by its much more romantic French name. After all, it sounds much better to say you’ve been educating yourself on the veille a roue than to tell people you’ve been playing your nights away on the good ‘ole hurdy gurdy.
