• The Hurdy-Gurdy

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  • Anna Murphy playing a Hurdy-Gurdy

    Terminology

  • A person who plays the hurdy-gurdy is called a hurdy-gurdist, or (particularly for players of French instruments) viellist.
    In France, a player is called un sonneur de vielle (literally: "a sounder of vielle"), un vielleux or un vielleur.
    Because of the prominence of the French tradition, many instrument and performance terms used in English are commonly taken from the French, and players generally need to know these terms to read relevant literature. Such common terms include the following:

    Trompette: the highest-pitched drone string that features the buzzing bridge

    Mouche: the drone string pitched a fourth or fifth below the trompette

    Petit bourdon: the drone string pitched an octave below the trompette

    Gros bourdon: the drone string pitched an octave below the mouche

    Chanterelle(s): melody string(s), also called chanters or chanter strings in English

    Chien: (literally "dog"), the buzzing bridge

    Tirant: a small peg set in the instrument's tailpiece that is used to control the sensitivity of the buzzing bridge

  • Photo by Stefan Bollmann

    Content from Wikipedia