-gurdy fashion in France was unique in its time.
C. The French Hurdy-gurdy Methods
The French hurdy-gurdy repertoire consisted mainly of short dance and song pieces which usually placed no great demands on the technical ability of the player. This music was intended for aristocratic amateurs whose musical training did not allow for technical difficulties. The hurdy-gurdy however had certain peculiarities, such as the fingering and the movement of the crank (see page 63), which needed some practice. Therefore it made sense that the teachers of this instrument composed directions for learning the hurdy-gurdy. Six French methods for the hurdy-gurdy, which are different in their depth and contents, have been preserved from the 18th century.
The shortest of these methods is the anonymous "Méthode" from the first half of the 18th century [fn]. It concerns itself with how the strings of the hurdy-gurdy are tuned in C and G, says a bit about the fingering positions of the left hand and how many revolutions of the wheel are neccesary for certain values.
A method somewhat more detailed but still very scanty in its information appeared in 1732 from J.-B. Chr. Ballard: "Pièces
choisies pour la vielle à l'usage des commencants avec des instructions pour toucher et pour entretenir cet instrument". [translation JW: "Selected pieces for hurdy-gurdy for beginners with instructions on how to play and maintain this instrument"]. Before the easy pieces there are a few explanatory notes about the instrument. The author describes tuning of the hurdy-gurdy (see page 57), goes into fine tuning of the chanterelles with the movable nuts of these strings and by the tuning of the individual tangents. He gives some information about the care of the instrument and especially for the wheel, and about the range, but says very little about turning the crank to produce the note values (page 63). After this come the pieces, with further notes as to their execution added to some of them. The composers of these pieces are not named, just as the author of the theoretical explanations is not mentioned. The afterword of this collection is of interest, since the author draws attention to the fact that the hurdy-gurdy belongs in other hands and was only brought to attention by a fad (see page 409).
Next to these two short methods are other methods which are much more detailed and which appear later, of which the best and most extensive was written by François Bouin: "La Vielleuse habile ou nouvelle Methode courte, très facile,et très sure Pour Apprendre a jouer de la Vielle. Oeuvre IIIe, Paris (1761)". [translation JW: "The able hurdy-gurdy player (femenine) or a short,very easy and sure method for learning to play the hurdy-gurdy"]. He described with great exactitude and scope the particulars of the hurdy-gurdy and how to play it, and above all took into consideration that many players had no musical education to speak of. Bouin therefore prefaced his method with a general theoretical discussion on note values, clefs, pauses, key indications, tempi, etc. After this he mentions the different types of hurdy-gurdy, the 'vielle en luth' and the 'vielle en guitare', then discusses how to hold the instrument, the position of the player's arms and hands, and then the tuning and tonal range of the hurdy-gurdy as well as the tuning of the sympathetic strings. From the fingering he comes to the wheel and its operation. In the opening remarks regarding the hurdy-gurdy Bouin says that this instrument does not suit everyone's taste [fn], but that it could,
when played well, take its place with the best of instruments. In discussing the wheel the author draws attention especially to its significance for the hurdy-gurdy: "C'est la roue qui donne l'ame à cet instrument" [fn] [translation JW: "It is the wheel that gves the hurdy-gurdy its soul"], and: "Sans le secours de la roue, la vielle ne sçauroit ni briller, ni se soutenir" [fn]. [translation JW: "Without the aid of the wheel , the hurdy-gurdy would not be able to shine or sustain itself"]. Next he speaks of the division o