Hurdy Gurdy Playing

My compendium of Hurdy Gurdy playing tips, tricks and techniques.

Left Hand

  • Keep fingers near the keys (limit the amount you pull them off)
  • Relax left arm
  • Press keys firmly
  • Fingering
  • Never use the same finger for two consecutive notes
  • Techniques such as switching, extension, contraction to prevent this
  • Trills and Ornaments
    • Use two fingers for one note whilst trilling
    • To accent notes, press harder on the key and pull off, to make the key flick back onto the case

Right Hand

Make sure to stretch both arms regularly.

  • Keep arm relaxed
  • Hold knob correctly
  • Keep entire arm and wrist on the same axis
  • Turning wheel slightly faster might get rid of warbling
  • Don’t bend the wrist very much
  • Trompette techniques
  • Strokes come from the wrist and fingers
  • To get coup de catre – practise 123-, then try 1—4, then put everything together
  • Make sure 2 stroke is coming from the lower two fingers