Certain variations of the Hurdy Gurdy date back to the 10th Century. The Hurdy Gurdy is a bowed string instrument consisting of 2 melody strings and 2 drone strings, with a strap attached to the Gurdy and the instrument held to the chest of the player. As the wheel turns, the edge rubs the strings, causing them to vibrate. The player then uses the left hand to produce the melodies by pressing the wooden keys which bend the melody strings, causing an increase or decrease in pitch.
Gravity is used to let the tangents drop away from the melody strings.
Some say it has a bagpipe sound. A Lifetime to Tune . . . As you can probably guess, the Gurdy is a very intricate, complicated and time-consuming instrument to tune properly. Proper tuning depends on the Gurdy players wants and needs. The Gurdy always sounds better with time to settle, adjustments made to its wood bridges, cotton, strings, and with resin applied to the wheel.