Musical Collections: The Hurdy Gurdy

Join Tom Vaughn, Music, Arts and Performance Coordinator, as he discusses an unusual instrument in the Old Sturbridge Village collection, the Hurdy Gurdy. Invented in the Middle Ages, the Hurdy Gurdy experienced a resurgence in popularity in the 1790s in Paris, France. It then made its way to New England, where it was considered a novelty. Enjoy the droning sounds of the Hurdy Gurdy!

[@RobinMarconeCassidyRN]

What an interesting name and the sound is wonderful! Definitely bagpipes. Thank you so much Tom for sharing another part of history.

[@coffeehubby]

How interesting, sounds like bagpipes 😊

[@mamadragon2581]

I got to try the hurdy gurdy last month at OSV and thought of a question only after I got home: can you play chords on the hurdy gurdy? Thanks! 🙂

[@OldSturbridgeVillage]

When first evaluating the original instrument in our collection, it appeared that the "fingers" which contact the strings could be interchanged to play sharps flats or chords. Upon experimentation on the reproduction instrument, we found that chords could not be played for two reasons. The first is that only one key could be pushed at a time, because the higher-pitched key will prevent the lower-pitched keys from creating any sound. The second reason is that mixing two different melody notes with a drone note would not create a perfect chord.

[@mamadragon2581]

@@OldSturbridgeVillage Thanks--I was kicking myself that I hadn't thought of the question until we were halfway home.