BY HAROLD GRETTON AND VERONIQUE VAN DUURLING
Have you ever had to perform with a close friend, relative, or loved one? How do you keep things professional when your partnership goes beyond musical?
We asked Harold Gretton and Véronique Van Duurling, who together form Duo Amythis. Oh, and they’re married. The two guitarists share their secrets for a successful creative partnership ahead of their performance with the Melbourne Guitar Foundation this December 17.
1. Have passions and interests other than music
Harold: We love to cook and eat good food. It makes a productive break from practice and teaching, and it’s something we do and enjoy together (with only occasional stabbing incidents, after particularly productive arguments).
Véronique: Definitely food. Before we were playing as a duo, I used to dance a lot. We have danced together as well, but I enjoy it more then Harold does and I prefer it to be my thing. Harold likes to play board games. Together we love to watch a good movie now and then. A few days ago, we tried paddle boards for the first time and we had great fun! So there might be more water sports in the future whenever there is an opportunity.
2. We separate life from work
Harold: We often feel our life is our work, making the separation very difficult. Véronique is much better than me at forcing us to slowly back away from the guitars, both hands raised. It works best when we have a good practice routine. If we know we have practice time set aside, then we also make the best of our non-practice time. If only the same were true of the other, seemingly primary, work of being a performing artist: the countless hours staring at a screen feeling as if nothing’s being achieved. This has even more potential to be a black hole for any private life we may hope for, mainly because it follows us everywhere. But I think that’s the same in most professions, requiring the same discipline and access to flight mode.
Véronique: It is impossible to separate our personal lives from our work. When we are irritated with each other during guitar practice, we continue to be irritated with each other afterwards. Often we need a few moments apart after practising so that we don’t fight. That goes both ways. When I don’t feel well in my relationship with Harold, I can’t stand the idea of practising together. It makes it very difficult to actually follow the practice plans that we tend to make.
We seem to be making the most progress during periods in which we have less teaching work or when we have a vacation. Studying as a duo often takes more concentration and time then solo practice. When we are thinking about all the little things we still have to prepare for teaching that day, about parents that we should have contacted, about students recitals we should be preparing, it is often a waste of time to practice together.
When we are travelling somewhere for a concert or a competition and we actually manage to organise being there a few days early, we get a lot done. In those days, we tend to rehearse from the morning until the evening, focusing on our program and practising more effectively. When there is no time off before a performance, we try to get up earlier and get one or two hours of practice done together before we go to teach. The rest is solo practice in breaks or when students don’t show up. We usually get back late from work and then we are too tired to do good practice. We tend to use the evening to prepare our meals that we take along for the next teaching day. In the kitchen, we actually work together much more productively. We both like to eat well!
3. We argue productively
Harold: Chortle, chortle. Yes, very good, very wry. Next.
Véronique: Eh, are you married? Little frustrations tend to build up for a long time and when one of us finally explodes (usually me), we do manage to get somewhere!
4. Stay professional when rehearsing
Harold: Every musician has different strengths and weaknesses, and it’s normal to have to deal with these in a chamber music setting. In a marriage setting, it’s less normal, so consciously being patient with each other is important. This is the ideal situation. For the reality, see point 2 above.
Véronique: Yes, Harold. That sentence was very professional (right!).
5. When travelling together, we make the best of things
Harold: If you want to live with someone, you’ve got to associate them with more than just work, otherwise it’s like sleeping at the office. So you have to make time to share nice experiences away from music, which is easy to do when travelling. When we played in Eggenburg in Austria in August, we made sure to put aside a couple of days to visit Vienna afterwards; when we played in Olsztyn, we spent a few days in Warsaw. The easiest is when the proud hosts want to show off their region, like in Houston, where we were treated to live music and good company every night for the week leading up to our concert; or Xalapa (Mexico), where we tried amazing local coffee and were taken out to some wonderful eateries. Visiting Australia is a treat, because there are so many things I miss that I want to share with Véronique, whether the bird life, scenery, or abundance of good food.
Véronique: Yes, we do try to make the travelling as pleasant as possible. We usually accept a lot more concerts during the weekends or the vacation time. During the school year, we always catch up every lesson that we miss, so that means that we tend to perform a lot in the little free time that we have. We want to feel like we are on vacation as well, so if there is a way, we do try to do something special together or meet up with friends when travelling.
Duo Amythis will perform at 7pm, December 17, presented by the Melbourne Guitar Foundation. Tickets available online.
CutCommon friends (with benefits) will receive a discount to this event. You can join us here.
