Melodies are played on a keyboard that presses tangents—small wedges, typically made of wood or metal—against one or more of the strings to change their pitch.

Most hurdy-gurdies have multiple drone strings, which give a constant pitch accompaniment to the melody, resulting in a sound similar to that of bagpipes.

The hurdy-gurdy is generally thought to have originated from fiddles in either Europe or the Middle East (e.g., the rebab instrument) before the eleventh century A.D.[2] The first recorded reference to fiddles in Europe was in the 9th century by the Persian geographer Ibn Khurradadhbih (d. 911) describing the lira (lūrā) as a typical instrument within the Byzantine Empire.

[3] One of the earliest forms of the hurdy-gurdy was the organistrum, a large instrument with a guitar-shaped body and a long neck in which the keys were set (covering one diatonic octave).

Another 10th-century treatise thought to have mentioned an instrument like a hurdy-gurdy is an Arabic musical compendium written by Al Zirikli.

The solo organistrum was known from Spain and France, but was largely replaced by an improved variant, known as a symphonia, in the 13th century, a small box-shaped version of the hurdy-gurdy with three strings and a diatonic keyboard.

During the Renaissance, the hurdy-gurdy was a very popular instrument (along with the bagpipe) and the characteristic form had a short neck and a boxy body with a curved tail end.

During this time the hurdy-gurdy also spread further to Central Europe, where further variations developed in western Slavic countries, German-speaking areas and Hungary (see the list of types below for more information on them).

In Ukraine, a variety called the lira was widely used by blind street musicians, most of whom were purged by Stalin in the 1930s (see Persecuted bandurists).

The hurdy-gurdy is the instrument played by Der Leiermann, the street musician portrayed in the last, melancholy song of Schubert's Winterreise.

The instrument came into a new public consciousness when Donovan released his hit pop song "Hurdy Gurdy Man" in 1968.

Revivals have been underway for many years as well in Austria, Belarus, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands,[10]: 85–116  Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, and Ukraine.

As the instrument has been revived, musicians have used it in a variety of styles of music (see the list of recordings that use hurdy-gurdy), including contemporary forms not typically associated with it.

Such common terms include: According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the mid 18th century origin of the term hurdy-gurdy is onomatopoeic in origin, after the repetitive warble in pitch that characterizes instruments with solid wooden wheels that have warped due to changes in humidity or after the sound of the buzzing-bridge.

In Italy, it is called the ghironda or lira tedesca while in Spain, it is a zanfona in Galicia, zanfoña in Zamora, rabil in Asturias and viola de roda in Catalonia.

Another Hungarian name for the instrument is nyenyere, which is thought to be an onomatopoeic reference to the repetitive warble produced by a wheel that is not even.

Leier, lant, and related terms today are generally used to refer to members of the lute or lyre family, but historically had a broader range of meaning and were used for many types of stringed instruments.

Such organs require only the turning of the crank to play; the music is coded by pinned barrels, perforated paper rolls, and, more recently, by electronic modules.

To achieve proper intonation and sound quality, each string of a hurdy-gurdy must be wrapped with cotton or similar fibers.

When the wheel is turned regularly and not too fast the pressure on the string (called the trompette on French instruments) holds the bridge in place, sounding a drone.

When the crank is struck, the hammer lifts up suddenly and vibrates against the soundboard, producing a characteristic rhythmic buzz that is used as an articulation or to provide percussive effect, especially in dance pieces.

The tirant adjusts the lateral pressure on the trompette and thereby sets the sensitivity of the buzzing bridge to changes in wheel velocity.

In traditional tekerő playing, the buzzing bridge is controlled entirely by the wrist of the player and has a very different sound and rhythmic possibilities from those available on French instruments.

The following description of various types uses this framework:[15][16]: 23–40 Small-wheeled (wheel diameter less than 14 cm, or about 5.5 inches) instruments are traditionally found in Central and Eastern Europe.

Similar to electric guitars, the signals are transmitted to an instrument amplifier or reproduced by synthesizer in a modified form.

Depending on the technical equipment of the instrument, the digital audio signal can be output directly via an integrated processor and sound card.

The data exchange of the musical information between the hurdy-gurdy and connected computers, samplers or synthesizers are managed via MIDI interface.