Anyone ever experience this? Trying to figure it out.

[ggpianogg]

So, since I started playing, I have always taken care not to ever skip a day without playing. I read on this forum from multiple people that the most important thing is consistency. So I was playing every day for about 2,5 - 3 hours a day, not skipping a day for the last 3 months.

I've been having some trouble with some trills and in general with how my playing sounds (being able to play evenly etc), and I've been focusing on those things specifically when playing / doing my warmup scales etc. I was making progress, but it was rather slow.

Then suddenly, I had to take 3 days off from playing the piano (business trip), I had absolutely no access to the piano during this period.

I come back, sit down and play. My trills are twice as good as they were before the break from the get go, my playing evenness as well.

What happened?

Keep in mind I was getting more or less enough sleep before the break, so it's not like I was really taxing myself during playing (I would sleep around 6,5-7 hours each night).

[dss62467]

Burn out.  You need a little rest for your muscles, I suspect.  I would have this same phenomenon when I was into fitness a little more.  You lift weights too much, you get weaker.  Take a break, your body has had time to rest, you're stronger than you were before the break.

Consistency is the key, yes... but you will find advice here where you're told that you reach a point of diminishing returns.  I do notice that if I'm having a particularly difficult time with part of a piece, and I leave it for a day or two, I come back fresh and can pretty much fly through it

[stevebob]

I have a theory about it.  I believe the benefits of regular practice accrue daily—and that they continue accruing even if you stop for a day or two or three.  (It doesn't go on indefinitely, though, as anyone who's lapsed for weeks or months or years knows all too well.)

I think, then, that you sensed a significant improvement for a couple of reasons.  As you'd been completely away from a piano, three days' worth of cumulative improvement hit you all at once.  You also probably expected to be rusty and had low expectations when you resumed after the three-day hiatus.  I would guess that you seemed to improve more than you actually did, and possibly your progress was no greater than if you had had been practicing during your time away.

On the other hand, sometimes a short break is beneficial for reasons that are either prosaic or defy overanalysis.  I definitely think it causes no lasting harm, unless resuming the routine proves difficult (as is frequently the case with an exercise regimen).

[roseli]

don't practice so much! don't be afraid of making a pause. I like to practice fro an hour a day, and just from the afternoon to the time before I go to sleep I already see some results.
as everyone said, rest.
and the evolution you noticed is because you had been so much time concentrated on that, that you even noticed how good you got. it's like the grass lol you look at it everyday and it looks the same, but if you go away for some time when you come back it is huge! lol

[brogers70]

I've noticed the same thing. I think it is physiological. Any acquired skill that lasts requires that neurons produce some new axons or dendrites or at least stably change the excitability of existing synapses. That requires a bunch of local protein synthesis and takes some time. It almost certainly does not all occur while you are actually practicing. So improvement continues while you are sleeping or working on something else. That doesn't mean that the intense pacticing you did for months in a row was not really important, it just means that it takes time for the physical changes in your brain induced by the practice to take place.

And as others have said taking a short break sometimes can have other benefits.

[scottmcc]

unfortunately, I have to give credit to one c. chang for a very apt description of the phenomenon of "post practice improvement," although of course many others have described the same situation before him.

anyway, learning is not linear, and not all learning happens while we are actually at the piano--much of it happens between practice sessions, and in fits and starts.  I had a similar experience just yesterday with some beethoven that I had been struggling with--I hadn't played it for a few weeks, and all of the sudden I was able to get through a passage that I've never managed before.

as I've said before, if you get stuck on something, try something else for a bit, then revisit it.  you'll be surprised what happened in the interval.