A mechanized string instrument, the hurdy-gurdy has a long and colorful history often associated with rural folk musicians. It usually has three strings; two are called "drones," which means that they provide a constant, single background pitch, and the third is a melody string. The strings are rubbed by a wooden wheel coated with rosin rather than a bow. The player turns a crank which rotates the wheel and controls "tangents," (or key-like levers) that press on the melody string to produce the desired note.
The earliest hurdy-gurdy was called an "organistrum." It was used in cloisters and monastic schools in Europe during the Middle Ages to teach music and to perform religious music. It probably derived its name from the style of the type of music it accompanied, called "organum," meaning multi-part music with moving notes over a drone bass. Art from the period shows the organistrum to be about five feet long, played by two players, one performing the tangent keyboard and one turning the crank
By the fifteenth century, the hurdy-gurdy (called vielle in French and Leier in German) had become much smaller; it had also declined in social status. It became mainly a portable instrument played by traveling musicians at local festivals, plays and celebrations. The hurdy-gurdy found acceptance among the nobility again, however, in the 17th and 18th centuries, when imitations of "rural life" became among the European upper-class. Many Renaissance guitars and lutes were rebuilt into hurdy-gurdies during this time. Some of the French instruments from this era, in particular, are ornately gilded and beautifully inlaid with mother-of-pearl.
In the 18th century, Haydn wrote two concerti for this instrument, and Mozart included it in two of his minuets. Its droning sound was invoked or suggested in other music to add a 'special effect', as in Schubert's piece "Der Leiermann" ("The Hurdy-Gurdy Player"), the last song in his cycle "Der Winterreise" (The Winter Journey)
The hurdy-gurdy is still played in the folk music and dances of central France, along with the bagpipes. Performers create a percussive sound effect by turning the crank in measured jerks, making the strings buzz to beat time.