ITW: The Myth of Practicing series, Lina Marie Däunert

L.Park: Failures while being a part of the process, are often seen as a reflection of our value as artists. Why do you think we regard it as such?

Lina Marie Däunert: I’m not even sure if I want to get into this… Instead I’d like to introduce an approach of one of my biggest idols, a German-American conductor, Benjamin Zander, whose masterclasses one can watch on YouTube. Whenever he makes a “mistake” (what is even a mistake in music?) he says to himself “how fascinating!”. And he has this childish look of surprise on his face which makes the whole situation a curious miracle! My own adaption of this approach regarding intonation (which is a topic that I still make most of my mistakes..) is this: when I play an F sharp and it’s too high or too low I say to myself “this is my very own F sharp today! Tomorrow it’s gonna be different. But today, this is how my F sharp sounds!”

L.Park: When you hear the term “myth of practicing”, what is the first thing that comes to your mind?

Lina Marie Däunert: “Quantity over quality”: I feel like it comes to the worst. We still insist on practicing more than needed, and that’s just not a helpful paradigm!

L.Park: Can you tell us your personal experience as a music student and now professional with that myth and how it impacted you personally?

Lina Marie Däunert: When I started studying I heard that another student at my school had just had a break of six months- because he’d had a burnout, at age twenty-two! That was so confusing for me…

Of course I got sucked into the overall pressure of beating the competition as well during my studies, but the more experienced, the more I focused on learning how to trust myself instead of practicing until I… well… burnt out.

L.Park: Talking of impact, what do you think of the pressure it creates on young musicians?

Lina Marie Däunert: I think it should be mandatory for students to learn about how to shield themselves off from destructive thought patterns, excessive competitive thinking and anything else that makes you sick during your studies, both physically and mentally!

L.Park: We all heard the saying “work smarter, not harder”. What is your take on it and how would you explain it to your students?

Lina Marie Däunert: For me, it was never really about this particular idea. I always knew I was a “smart practitioner” but I still thought: “even if I am fast at finding solutions” I still needed to practice more — like the others did. It is for this reason, that finding a personal “goal” for practice in the beginning of the day is key for me. And whenever you feel like you achieved your goal, just stop and rest.

L.Park: Artists fully devoting themselves to art (neglecting personal issues) is often represented as an ideal by the media. What are the long lasting impacts in your opinion?

Lina Marie Däunert: I’ve had teachers telling me the exact kind of thing during my studies — and it always made me feel sick! Eventually I think that everyone should decide how they devote their time on their own. No one should tell you how many hours of practice per day make a great musician. It’s art, not math!

L.Park: Were there some things in your conservatory and/or music college education that were actually more damaging than good, and why?

Lina Marie Däunert: Actually there were a lot of things — but more in retrospect… When you start studying you have an idea of who you are and act accordingly. I, for example, thought that I could handle tough mental pressure.

This is why I decided to go to a very elite school instead of a smaller, more friendly one. Now I know what this constant immense pressure has done to me.

But I also probably wouldn’t be such a good violist if I hadn’t been in this high-achieving context. So, yes, there were things that “weren’t good for me” on one side. But on the other hand: this is how you build resilience — and personality. You learn to choose: this is not how I want to be treated; this is not how I see this. It makes you grow — but only if it doesn’t break you.

L.Park: Students are often anxious regarding on how they perform, whether in class or on stage, do you think that parts of it comes from the perfectionism asked from them as future professionals?

Lina Marie Däunert: Oh for sure! If we trained to make zero mistakes, it only results into one thing: tension and fear of not being enough to succeed.

L.Park: If there is one thing that music institutions should change, what would it be?

Lina Marie Däunert: I’d arrange for every student to have someone to support them, in a way that’s not connected to their instrument but to their mental health.

L.Park: Coming back to the image of glorifying the sacrifice of musicians, why do you think us as artists and the general public as such a fascination with it?

Lina Marie Däunert: I guess that the “big stars” of our industry have lived exactly that life that students glorify in myths afterwards. But the thing is, I always knew I won’t be an international star. I’m fine with just being the best musician I can. So I didn’t feel the need to adapt to the “lifestyle of the stars”.

L.Park: How does a typical day of practice look for you?

Lina Marie Däunert: Actually since I’ve started working 100% as an assistant solo viola in an orchestra my practicing schedule has changed a lot. I try to not play more than a specific amount of hours per week. So if I have a week full of rehearsals I practice less — only the important basics and something “fun” as a treat for myself. Because I know that I need to take care of my body as well. So the more I have to play the more I also do sports, yoga and awareness practices.

L.Park: Can you tell us some tips on how to build a healthy and balanced practice session?

Lina Marie Däunert: I think I don’t have more answers to this than what I’ve already explained in your previous question. Maybe I could add that the older I get the more important I find having enough breaks and counting activities that add to your mental health in general (like yoga, meditation, walks, interesting conversations) into my practice time.

L.Park: Self-compassion is not a subject often talked about, when did you first learn to be kind to yourself and what advice would you give to young music students?

Lina Marie Däunert: Oh, I’m really not an expert on that! What made me see that other people actually don’t judge me as much as I thought they do (and therefore I probably don’t need to judge myself that much as well?) was my audition experience. Over the years I’ve won two academy jobs and two fix jobs. And in each auditions I made mistakes which were obvious and audible to everyone. But I guess that me making those mistakes didn’t result in the orchestra musicians thinking that I wasn’t a good player. This repeated experience helped me to see mistakes as opportunities to be more compassionate.

L.Park: Why, in your opinion, is it so tough for us to separate our artistic value and our human value?

Lina Marie Däunert: Because we spend so much time practicing! You will always connect your personal value to what you spend your time with. And if that is mostly making music, this will be your number one connection!