Much research on musicians’ practice has focused on describing behaviors and attitudes or testing strategies to improve efficiency (How et al., 2022; Miksza, 2011). Yet practice also includes non-performance activity—resting, singing, gesturing—that may play a crucial role in skill development but has received little empirical attention. There is evidence to suggest that approximately 30% or more of practice time may be spent on non-performance activities (Byo & Cassidy, 2008; Geringer & Kostka, 1984), and recent work with professional trumpet players found that when practicing targeted passages, only 57% involved playing (Killion, 2025). Despite this, the cognitive and pedagogical functions of these non-playing intervals remain largely unexamined.In this study, we examined the nature and duration of non-playing intervals through a case study of saxophonist Todd Oxford, a Grammy™-nominated recording artist and university professor, as he prepared to premier a new work. Oxford recorded all practice sessions from the first day he started work on the piece to the point he was satisfied that the piece was performance ready, yielding 10 days of video footage comprising approximately nine hours of practice.Preliminary analyses reveal that across 17 practice sessions, he engaged in 166 non-playing occurrences, which averaged 8 seconds (SD = 12) in duration, while his performance trials averaged 54 seconds (SD = 45). The most common behaviors during non-playing time were adjusting the metronome, talking out loud about performance goals, repositioning music, and engaging in mental practice.Our ongoing content analysis examines how musicians’ practice behaviors evolve over time, with particular attention to the nature and function of non-playing activities. We seek to understand how these pauses may support learning and performance, not merely as rest but as active components of skill development that can make practice more efficient. Deliberate use of time away from playing may thus represent a critical, though often overlooked, dimension of effective practice.