PFQ - Instrumentation

The Plourd Family Quartet (PFQ)

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PFQ Instrumentation

Last Updated October 20, 2007

PFQ’s instrumentation is mostly acoustic, that is, non-electronic, except for the portable piano/keyboard which in effect makes a normally “stringed” piano portable. Instruments include:

Instrument	Player(s)	Comments / History
12-string classical guitar	Keith	Guitar was Keith's second instrument. He first learned music theory and technique on the clarinet! He plays his left-handed 12-string Takemine (Japanese) that's actually a converted, symmetric right-handed guitar.
6-string classical guitar	Sarah & Stephen	Sarah and Stephen learned guitar from Dad. Sarah bought her Alvarez from a friend.
Banjo	Stephen	Around the year 2000, Mom and Dad bought Stephen his inexpensive banjo with the caveat that he would play only Christian hymns. What a tall order! He has since gone on to using the instrument to honor Him in many skilful ways.
Harmonica	Stephen	Stephen uses this instrument to provide some variation in instrumentals and to present a different atmosphere.
Harp (occasionally)	Sarah	Sarah found that playing the harp, except for finger technique, is very similar to playing the white notes on the keyboard. She has practiced and used the harp for special effects, even with Stephen playing the keyboard.
Mandolin	Stephen	This was Stephen's third instrument and he loves playing it. It's his favorite. Its sound is effective in ethnic songs as well as bluegrass.
Piano/Keyboard	Sarah	This is Sarah's instrument of joy and her first instrument. When she was about nine years old, she began picking out melodies on a "take it out of our basement and it's yours" player piano (without the player engine!) After three years of piano lessons that included instruction in composition, she now composes songs with deep messages.
Recorder	Stephen	This was Stephen's first instrument and he has mastered it. It is often used for Irish songs and with reverb makes for beautiful melodies, especially for traditional hymns such as Be Thou My Vision.
String bass (Homemade! – also known as the “Amazing Bass”)	Keith, Sarah & Stephen	Stephen found the instructions for construction over the Internet. He and Dad put it together, but it was missing a 'D' string. Green weed whacker cord came to the rescue! (We always carry spare cord with us.) The washtub still has the hardware store sticker that says, "Usage of this product for other than its intended purposes is not recommended." You can find construction details on the Internet here.
Tambourine	Gwendolyn	Mrs. Plourd does not play an instrument, per se. She uses the tambourine to embellish a few songs and to provide the "steam engine" effects in our TurnTable Tune.
Voice	All	The Plourds, upon listening to other family groups with audio on the Internet, decided to pursue voice lessons. It has made a marked difference in our presentation.
Washboard	Gwendolyn	This instrument, not often used, allows Gwendolyn to provide percussion in some of our songs.

We bring our own sound system for amplification and mixing where needed, and we can connect to an existing public address system.

See a small sample repertoire.