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.
Vielle à roue et à manche Vielle à roue et à manche The vielle à roue et à manche (called dulcigurdy by some luthiers) is a modern term for an early music instrument, of unknown original name, of the hurdy-gurdy family, but distinct in that the notes were changed by fingering the neck rather than pressing tangent keys. The instrument has several strings which are constantly bowed by a spinning wheel turned by a crank, producing unbroken musical notes. The instrument is attested on Plate XXII of Praetorius' 1619 treatise Syntagma Musicum. The term "dulcigurdy" is a modern one, a portmanteau of "Appalachian dulcimer" and "hurdy-gurdy".