Hurdy-gurdy twenty-three different forms, and there is still no standardized design today. The six-stringed French "vielle à roue" is the best known and most common sort. A number of regional forms developed, but outside France the instrument was considered a folk instrument and there were no schools of construction that could have determined a standard form. There are two primary body styles for contemporary instruments: guitar-bodied and lute-backed. Both forms are found in French-speaking areas, while guitar-bodied instruments are the general form elsewhere. The box form of the "simphonia" is also commonly found among players of early music and historical re-enactors.
Nigel Eaton Nigel's tune "The Halsway Carol" (lyrics by Iain Frisk) and "Halsway Schottische" have attracted many cover versions on YouTube. Nigel Eaton Nigel Eaton is an English hurdy-gurdy player. He originally played the piano and cello but switched to the hurdy-gurdy in 1981 when his father, Christopher Eaton, began making them. He was a member of Whirling Pope Joan with Julie Murphy, Blowzabella, The Duellists and Firestarters of Leiden. He has released two solo albums, "The Music of the Hurdy-Gurdy" (1987) and "Pandemonium" (2002), and has been featured on recordings by other artists including Jimmy Page and Robert Plant (with whom