I recently took 4 days out abroad with no piano, followed almost immediately by another 5 days, returning last Thursday. Having only being practicing seriously for the last couple of months I found, when I started to play again on Thursday night, that within minutes my forearms felt like they were on fire and my fingers were starting to seize up.

It just reminded me that playing a musical instrument is a physical activity that requires physical as well as mental and musical skills and, as any athlete will tell you:

Rest is Rust!

An old piano teacher of mine used to say for every day without practice, you regressed 2 days.

With my diploma in 8 weeks, and the next 2 1/2 weeks I'm essentially out of the country -

Doesn't make for stree free sleeping!

My teachers says "If you don't practice for one day you notice. If you don't practice for two days your colleagues notice. If you don't practice for three days everyone notices."

*Shudders*

My parents are taking me to the States for 2 weeks... And are not letting me take anything that looks vaguely like a musical instrument.

So am I the only one who notices a distinct improvement in what I can do after a short break? Often, if I have to leave a piece for a few days, having first practised it fairly well, I can find that some elements are actually better for the break, especially musicality, but also the technical bits which I found hard but had worked on...as if something in my mind needed to process that work. Admittedly, we're talking a day or two, and I'm no professional...er, musician, anyway.

I agree, pieces can often benefit from a break. I find I can get a bit stale if I practise something for too long & a break can give it a new freshness & vitality. I think perhaps your technique needs to be quite well established before you start benefitting from breaks - I wouldn't be too keen on my pupils taking frequent breaks.

Anacrusis, I agree! Generally, anyway.

I find that if I'm struggling with something that should be going a lot better than it is (rather than just not knowing the piece), leaving it for a few days can make all the difference.

Plus, on a rather different level, when I injured my wrist last year, I couldn't play for five months. I was terrified that my playing would have completely regressed, but actually I got back to where I had been before fairly quickly (though resentful of the time wasted!)

My teacher told me that sometimes taking a break and not practising for a day or two is good. This is because your brain unravels the material and when you come back to the piece is much better! But sometimes this doesn't work...

I think an occasional break is beneficial, It's when you start taking 2 or 3 consecutive days off every week or every month that it probably stops being so.

Oooops!

I'm sure it's a case of balance, and what is right for any one person. Too much time off will not have a beneficial effect, on the other hand working for hours and hours can become counter-productive.

Yes - although initially sometimes the fingers are a little more stiff often I find that overall "digesting" of the piece has taken place and it doesn't take long for the fingers to return to strength and the piece has taken a massive leap forward in interpretation too.........

I agree too Anacrusis! I have just come back from a two-week break and my performance of my current piece was the best I have done yet!

I agree breaks can help .

Robodoc, you must have been playing something fairly energetic to get those effects: wasn't a long extended left hand tremelo was it by any chance? I've seen the bodybuilding required for that one .

Hanon!