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.
Howard Skempton among which are some for instruments rarely used in the western tradition: the hurdy-gurdy ("Concerto for hurdy-gurdy and percussion" (1994)) and the accordion ("Concerto for oboe, accordion and strings" (1997)). Some of the later works explore non-standard instrumentation: "Alveston" (2007) is scored for four trumpets, "Horizons" (2001) is scored for oboe and harp, "Ballade" (1997) is a pieces for saxophone quartet and string orchestra. Howard Skempton Howard While Skempton (born 31 October 1947) is an English composer, pianist, and accordionist. Since the late 1960s, when he helped to organise the Scratch Orchestra, he has been associated with the English school