Is It Ever Good to Take a Break from Practicing?

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Lots of folks in the U.S. are taking the day off today to celebrate Labor Day. Basically, we're not working so we can celebrate work.

The U.S. Department of Labor states that Americans celebrate Labor Day to honor the social and economic achievements and contributions of the American worker. The best part is...that it falls on a Monday. 

Does this day off provide more than just a chance to cook out with friends? 

A day off from anything that we do routinely, does in fact give a lot more than just the chance for celebration. 

Think about when you get a day off from work. Your mind relaxes a bit as well as your body. Your thoughts may be more productive and you'll get a lot of things done that don't have anything to do with work. You may catch up on some sleep with a nap, or spend the day outside. 

The results are that when you return to work the next day  you are refreshed, your thoughts are clearer, you have more energy to tackle your day, you are more productive and creative, and might even be nicer to be around and work with. All of these results lead to you doing your work better and accomplishing more! It's good to take a break. 

This is true with playing the piano as well! We always think that we have to practice everyday and work really really hard all of the time to play the piano well. This is true...up to a point. 

Yes, we have to have good steady practice habits because that's the only way we improve at anything, including the piano. Daily application...it does work. 

But...taking a break works with your hard work and is actually an important aspect of learning this instrument. 

When you take a day off after several days of focused and detailed practicing, you give your conscious brain a chance to rest. This allows all of that information that you've been feeding it to flow into your subconscious and get "processed". Once it is processed it will come back to your conscious mind almost like it went through a washing of sorts. The information is clearer, you can understand it easier and best of all, play better. 

It's really an amazing experience. You can spend a week working on learning a new and difficult passage in your piano piece...and still not get it. Then you take a day off and come back to it the next day, and guess what? You play that same passage effortlessly. Almost like magic...out of nowhere, all of a sudden...it gels and you get it. 

You can even do this with older pieces that you've learned in the past. Go back to one of those that was a little challenging at the time, and play it again. How much easier is it now? 

Our subconscious brain never forgets one note that we play, or one piece or exercise, or anything that we do and learn. It is constantly processing what our conscious minds "feed it", puts it through a cleansing of sorts, and then gives it back to us ready to use at our will. 

Taking a day off each week from our practicing and playing is one of the best things that we can do for our piano playing. Just like our bodies need sleep each night, our minds need rest too. There's a time to work and a time to rest.

Labor Day is a great example of this and encourages us to celebrate our own accomplishments in our piano playing and growth. Recognize your success in your playing each week and don't focus on what you haven't successfully learned yet. Take a break...let your mind work on it and then come back to it the next day. You'll like the results and you might even use this technique in other areas of your life to have more success everywhere!

Stay Tuned to PianoLessonsOnTheWeb.com to learn much more and achieve your dream of playing the piano!

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