As an undergrad, I talked a lot about the fact that music students do not get the kinds of breaks that math, education, business, etc. majors get. We have to practice through Spring Break and Christmas Break and all Summer; meanwhile, the others are at Panama City Beach or skiing in Vale. Yes, I know many of them do internships or work career-related Holiday jobs. As Musicians, however, it is a necessity that we not take time away from our major. An occasional weekend or two is often just what the Dr. prescribed, but it is completely unacceptable for a music student to need to get re-acquainted with their instrument the first week of classes.
Unfortunately, this is not something I practiced (pun intended) during my undergrad years. Now is a different story, though. This was the first weekday morning of my 2007 Spring Break and I spent it warming up, relishing the practice time. I even got to spend time in the front yard, warming up and waving at the neighbors!
I now look at breaks as an opportunity to put away all the distractions of classes and ensembles and focus on my instrument, cleaning up technique and intonation, learning new tunes and more ways to play a scale.
What are you doing with your Spring Break?