Links to music and other resources from Chris Allen and Sabina Kormylo

A short history of the Hurdy Gurdy PDF format 187 kb

A short history of the Hurdy Gurdy collected from various sources with thanks and sincere apologies to the (long forgotten) original sources.
This includes some historic pictures at the bottom.

Tunes suitable for Hurdy Gurdy PDF format 2.2 mb

Some 50 tunes collected by Graham Whyte aka Jamie Hammond.
This is in 2 column landscape format suitable for folding into a handy pocket book.

Alternative version in portrait format, easier to read but bigger file PDF format 3.7 mb

Ukraine and Lemko tunes for Hurdy Gurdy PDF format 545 kb

Some wonderfully sad tunes from the Werner Icking Music Archive.
Includes some translations and comments.

The song book itself (mostly in Ukraine) as a 780 kb PDF can be downloaded here.
The music scores start on Page 95!

Tuning and temperament PDF format 105 kb

A paper presented at the 2002 Over the Water Festival
Discussion of the advantages of not using Equal Temperament on the Hurdy Gurdy.
Includes instructions for setting Just Temperament with a standard tuning meter.

Hurdy Gurdy Tangent Positioning for Just Temperament PDF format 7 kb

Table of theoretical tangent positions for Equal and Just Temperament on a Hurdy Gurdy with 345mm string length.

Also available here as an Excel sheet on which the string length can be changed. XLS format 23 kb

Cottoning Hints PDF format 16 kb

Practical tips on successful cottoning of Hurdy Gurdies and use of rosin.

The Hurdy-Gurdy Wikipedia External website

You will find a lot of information on Hurdy-Gurdies here.
This site is set up to collect information about the hurdy-gurdy including makers, players, events, setup, maintenance, education and links to web pages about the hurdy-gurdy.

Wikipedia also in German here

Assessing an antique hurdy-gurdy PDF format 7 kb

A check list sheet to use when examining an antique hurdy gurdy with a view to purchase.

The hurdy-gurdy in America External website

Anna Peekstok is a Hurdy Gurdy player and freelance writer with many years’ experience in researching, writing, and editing a wide range of materials. This interesting article gives the background to the growing popularity of the hurdy-gurdy in America.

Music and other resources