I was wondering what everyone's thoughts are on 'rest days.' I know it is very important to have rest days when working out or training for a race (or whatever) in order to let the body rebuild and recover. Training hard every day won't allow you to improve as much as you would with some rest now and then..... So... say I've been playing guitar 5-6 hours a day (including like 2 hours of band practice some days, not just grinding exercises) for a week.. is it a good idea to have a recovery day before starting the next week?.. or should I just keep hittin it hard everyday? Maybe this isn't even enough playing to worry about it.

I also wonder about letting things sink in with the brain as well. It takes time to form new neural pathways and connections.. I question whether taking a day off would make a difference in the efficiency of these processes.

Whatcha think?

I agree with Ursin. I play at least an hour or 2 everyday. Like he said just to maintain the level of playing you are at(This applies to all guitar players). John McLaughlin, Allan Holdsworth, Yngwie Malmsteen.....all of the TOP LEVEL guys play constantly so they are able to play gigs anytime and nail it live. It is nice a feeling when your technique slips and gets sloppy from lack of playing and practicing guitar, your technique will go to pieces in a matter of days if you don't sustain the amount of practice and playing you do. I know this from my own experience of not practicing and playing constantly due to work commitments etc.

Sounds good to me. What would I do with a day off anyway?

Every normal practice day I usually start off with stuff like scales, tech, reading, ear training etc as I find it easier to keep my motivation up if I get that kind of stuff done early.

On a "rest" day I skip all that. Maybe I will just jam chords and riffs for an hour (which could end up being a song), or else maybe learn a new song or play through my repertoire.

Then after that I'll probably mess around with a looper and end up soloing for a while.

Basically the fun stuff, but it keeps you ticking over.

I feel very anoyed when I dont play a day it makes me feel grumpy. I day not played my guitar is a waisted day of my life i have the feeling :)