For the past five years I have religiously practiced nigh everyday. I occasionally skipped a day, rarely two, usually for some force majeure reason.

But I found that after a very short practice holiday my playing can actually improve, with an increased urge to do more and better. Is it a common feeling?

Very common with me. It’s a combination of allowing your body to be relaxed and mentally rested. I took 2 weeks off over Christmas and came back to my 2 fast tempo pieces. I had time to reflect..more relaxed and now, seeing great leaps of improvement. I definitely like to work on other techniques and away from pieces, especially where I start feeling stressed.

Definitely need to take time off once in a while but no more than a 2-week break. When I'm not playing, I'd listen to sound recordings. My hands are resting but my mind is active...

I just took 5 days off, my longest break since 2014 (when I took 5 months off), so I could volunteer for an event. Of the pieces in my current list, one improved, one got worse, and the rest were about the same.

Just my totally unscientific, anecdotal, experience!

Sam

In my long life (including the lives when I actually had access to a piano to practise on), I've taken many, many breaks not just from piano, but from music - on holidays, often long mountaineering expeditions etc ranging from a week to a few months. Every year without fail, in fact (my passport has stamps & visas ranging from Tibet to Tanzania, Nepal to Norway....). Only one land trip - to Jamaica - had a piano on which I could play every day, because it was at sea level - and I became the bar piano player and chief entertainer in the daytime (for those who like their music classical, that is ).

On return, I'm raring to go pummel my piano, but my pianistic reflexes are slower, so I have to take things slower and more carefully (how much slower depends on how long my absence was), so invariably, I re-scrutinize the score (and my memory of it) and re-train my playing apparatus.....up to the next level. Eventually .

I quite often find that my playing has magically improved after a break of a few weeks. I think that this must derive from some process in the brain.

I've heard "A change is as good as a rest."
I'm not sure I agree entirely.

Not for me. Neither do I ever experience that a piece I struggled with last night, suddenly flows easily in the morning...

At my age I'm aware many people half my age are already at the same level. Taking a short break is ok but anything longer than 1 month I need time to catch up. Once I took the summer off. When I started playing again, I was able to play some of the more challenging pieces but at only half the tempo. Even a few weeks after learning the notes I was still playing under tempo.

Before taking a break, I'd make sure I learn enough of a piece or a section. There is always the risk of having to restart from scratch if I take a break too soon. When learning a new piece, I also play other pieces I worked on or know well in between than not playing for a few days. Part of playing is learning pieces and the other is stress relief. People in the family listen to the same depressing news everyday. I'd turn off the TV and spend an hour or more playing music instead.

Like most people I'd practice pieces at a slow tempo (50%). If I learn the notes of a piece at 50 bpm, I can expect better flow & note accuracy after taking a break. It's not reasonable to expect a piece that was worked on at 50 bpm would be at or very close to 100 after a few days of rest. Your fingers need to be pushing the tempo a bit more each time.

Yes for me, though I am not sure if it is really a technical improvement, rather a new mental focus. I notice it especially if I take some time off from a particular composer and then return. For instance, I have been all about Bach for some time now, and had set Chopin aside. A recent forum thread sparked an interest to play some Chopin today, and in spite of my technical rustiness, I felt like something had clicked, had moved forward. It is hard to explain. But it feels like progress.