Ron:

You will find more clarity to this question the longer you practice. Longer here meaning as the months and years go by. This is truly a topic that applies differently to different people.

mamianka:

You *should* take breaks!!! Every hour, leave the room for ten minutes, walk, stretch, get a big drink of water (I’m a flutist – mandatory!!!) And taking a VACATION is also good for you. The great flute teacher Marcel Debost, who teaches at Oberlin, and previously held prestigious orchestra and teaching jobs in France, advocates what I do – practice six days a week. Schedule yourself a day off to reflect, listen to music – or do NOTHING related to music. Let’s say you plan to take Monday off – since you play a lot on the weekends. Well, something atrocious came up Sunday – and you did not play at all. There’s your day gone – you practice Monday. And what if you miss TWO days? Life will not end. Do not try to force yourself to *make up the hours* – just return to your regular schedule. On the many professional flute lists that I frequent, advanced players often ask about buying a backup flute to take on vacation – camping, etc. IT’S A VACATION – leave the flute home. If you want to take a Yamaha fife, for 12 bucks, just to keep your lips in shape, and to play to the birds – fine. But to take a vacation and then want to keep up a practice regimen – seeking remote, empty rooms in your hotel, while life in that locale is passing you buy – how sad. This is NOT the same as having to practice because you are on tour – you asked about vacation, or breaks. Like Debost says – all your good habits will be there, perhaps under the thinnest layer of dust, when you return home – refreshed. The tension, over-practice, stress, bad habits, etc. will have fallen away – having been left behind on some beach, or some villa.
In college, people used to BRAG about how many hours they practiced – like *poor me – I had to do 8 hours today* – as if that was a measure of commitment or talent. It is proven that if you cannot get things done in 3 hours or less – spaced out over a longer time period – then you do not know HOW to practice efficiently, and will probably give yourself some overuse injuries, too. When I was at Hartt in the Sixties, the practice rooms were locked from 10 pm to 7 am. Practicing in the dorms or elsewhere was forbidden. You know what? We learned to score-study. Years later, I memorized all of Jet Whistle (Villa Lobos) in the CAR, while Himself drove from Albany to Boston – and I took my shifts driving, too. When I got there and picked up the flute – I was amazed how easy it was to play. I run TG patterns (flutist daily exercises) on a pencil while in a bus or plane, complete with double-tonguing going – one way to prevent some stranger from striking up an unwanted conversation, too. You learn so much and so well, away from the instrument – less brain stress!
I also have the world’s shortest warm-up. My husband says that he (a pianist) could walk into a huge room with the flutists at the NFA convention, and pick out my few runs and intervals,like a Momma can hear her own crying baby – if only he got there for the few seconds I do it!
I must watch my nutrition carefully now, because of some serious health issues, and the resultant meds. (Geez, one said on the label “Scrutinize all food for any hidden sources of alcohol!!!” Guess the Beaujolais Nouveau had to wait 2 weeks for me . . ). I feel better – but am still a ways from my goals, and get the Fisheye at my 2x weekly blood tests. I personally do not get outside nearly as much as I should – I am a whiner – too hot, too cold, too windy, too tired, too busy. ON VACATION – yup, I go outside! I live in a lovely area where I should be outdoors all the time – Idontwanna.
So – plan your practice well – on paper. My husband has kept steno books of ALL his practice, for over 40 years – seriously. What literature, what technique – nothing spectacular, just like an assignment pad. Got that from a Russian teacher with no socks, who taught him when he was 14. I make sure that I, and my private students, have a plan on paper for practice – LITTLE BITES of things that need to be done, not tons, so that it all gets done over the course of a week. Saying “Do this entire etude, and split it up into chunks each day” is daunting. Telling them/ME to do 2 lines each days of the week is easy.
I tell my students that YOU play the flute – the flute does not play YOU. That means that you must have the solid yet relaxed technique ( like the Dog Whisperer says – calm/submissive!) to get the flute to do anything you wish – but that the flute does NOT rule your life – like your swim coach thinks HE does!
DISCLAIMER – this applies to people who are either pros, or students working with a fine teacher. I tend to find that self-taught people are more likely to beat themselves up – they know that *something* is missing in their instruction, so they try to compensate with insane hours. Nope. Not gonna happen. You see questions here – “How long would it take to teach myself to shred, if I lock myself in my room every day for 6 hours with my guitar?” Sad.
Added – typos fixed – I hope. And something got cut off . . . .