Conservatoire students , how do you practise ?

Conservatoire students , how do you practise piano/ violin ? HOw do you overcome boredom and monotony from practising ? and As members of the orchestra or students of the conservatoire, do you get days off from practise ? like on public holidays ?
And on the day after, do you notice a lot of mistakes when you miss practise for one day ?
Do you practise the piano/ violin when you are tired ?

Like physically tired ? Or simply because you are tired of playing the same piece over and over again?

Also, I notice that when I take a break from practising piano for just one day, my fingers get stiff and The next day I practise I will make a lot of mistakes and wont be able to play just as fast. If I m lucky I might be able to play the notes correctly but when I m tired I just play the notes without full concentration on dynamics or musical sense.
What is the best advice for practising for exams ?

If you have a incredibly good teacher, you won’t get bored.
If not, you could practice in a different way every time. You could also write down what you practiced, what you want to practice next time, how much time you spent practicing and when you want to be done with the music you’re practicing. You could also read more books about the composers whose music you’re practicing. I always do that, it makes it be easier to understand the composer and his music. Or you could analyse the music.
I don’t get days off from practice, I have to practice every day. No holidays without practicing. And if there is no piano, you can practice on a desk . If I don’t practice I do notice some more mistakes and my fingers are also a bit stiffer, that’s why I sometimes practice on the desk during maths (I’ve got a better teacher now, so I didn’t do this anymore in the past few weeks) . I also play when I’m tired or when I’m ill. Playing piano gives me energy, so it’s even better to play piano when I’m tired. Also I feel less ill when I’m playing piano, probably because I’m just too concentrated on the music. Concentration and self-discipline are very important.
If you practice for exams, make sure you know everything really good, most people get very nervous and make a lot of mistakes just because of that. Make sure you can play everything with your eyes closed. Also make sure that during the exam you won’t pay too much attention on your technique and get so concentrated on your technique that you won’t be able to relax and play without musical sense. First you must make sure that you know the music so well, that you don’t have to concentrate on the technique anymore, and then you can play it with all your musical sense. Also it’s really good to record yourself now and then, sometimes you hear things you wouldn’t have heard while playing.

Surely, we must take a day off once a week, no? Practicing every single day, regardless of how varied it is, is monotonous. Monotony poisons spontaneity, IMO.

I could be wrong.

It can be monotonous, but it doesn't have to be monotonous, I think.

Honestly, even though I love to practice seven days a week, I have to agree with techneut. I find that I practice, learn, and perform better if I take off one day a week. I can't explain why, but that one-day break seems to renew my energy and I tackle the next six days of practice with fury; and I accomplish more in those six days than I do when I've practiced eight consecutive days but haven't taken a 24-hour hiatus from the daily grind.

Techneut will be relieved to know I've given his name back.

I'm Pete.
I have to agree with myself, Techneut (Chris) and you Sarah, if only through personal experience. I personally can't string together more than three days in a row of practice at a time. I just get tired. Mentally tired, that is. Physically, I can play forever. Emotionally however, not so much.

Abimopectore also has a point, I believe. It doesn't have to be monotonous. I guess if we could find a way to make practicing a Pavlovian-style reward unto itself, we could do it every day. Don't know why anyone would want that...

Pete

Oh, wait...!

Sorry, Pete. I quoted the wrong person.

I can now be classed as a brunette who is incredibly blonde! I am blissfully ecstatic when I finally figure out how to quote - and then quote the wrong individual. Oh brother.

Yes, concentration must be recharged on some sort of basis, because that is what seems to run out most regularly in piano practice. And what use is practice without concentration? Like Pete said (right person now, correct? ), it's just technical playing - moving one's fingers around the keyboard, and unmusically at that. For all practical and musical purposes, idle practice is useless.

*gets off her soapbox*

Well, I usually skip a day or maybe every now and then 2 days out of a week... but for me, it's not a matter of my fingers being stiff when I come back. Actually, when I start practicing after a day or two of not practicing, my fingers usually feel more nimble and I don't get tired as quickly. After a while, my fingers start to get stiff if I practice every day, but that's probably because I usually practice 5+ hours a day

I guess my main question would be: if you get tired of practicing, then is the piano something you really want to invest that much in (going to a conservatory or majoring in music)? I knew a year or 2 ago that if I was going to actually "make it" somewhere in the music world, I had to get serious... At that time, I hated practicing (I only practiced an hour or 2 a day). For about 3 months I forced myself to practice 4 or 5 hours a day. Ironically, my technique started getting a lot better and it was then that I started REALLY loving music and playing the piano. After that happened, it hasn't been a matter of "how am I going to make myself practice this long to get this accomplished?", but more like "how much do I get to practice today?" Of course there are days when I'd rather just not practice, but most of the time I crave it, just by virtue of my love for being in contact with the keyboard.

*steps off soapbox*