Free, as in no cost, is nice. Who doesn’t like it?
It’s the other free I’m talking about here.
Maybe you’re just learning to play your instrument. That doesn’t feel like freedom... Yet.
Master your instrument, where the instrument is an extension of your being. Where you don’t have to think about where your fingers go or how to form a note. Then, you'll experience freedom!
You’ll see that on YouTube whenever Hoover Ilave demos a guitar. Hoover is a master-level guitarist with the awards to prove it. He told me something the other day that I’ve been thinking about ever since. He said, “I aim to play what the instrument wants to be doing naturally.”
That’s a master talking.
I watch Hoover’s demo videos and love listening to the music, but I watch Hoover’s face. The man is one with the music he plays. That is freedom.
Dance is a little like that. When a song captures your heart and you start moving, maybe swaying with the music. A lot of us are overly-restrained. Taking the swaying to the whole body moving in a responsive dance, not thinking what others are thinking, not really thinking at all, well, some of us struggle with that. However, shuffle girls get it. So do tango dancers, swing dancers, modern dancers, ballerinas...and maybe you? There are so many kinds of dances. They take practice, too, of course, but dance is participating in music, and it's definitely worth learning.
Other songs get to you so deeply that you cry when you sing along. Or like Michael Jackson, who was so moved by his songs he broke down crying while recording them. That’s not sadness; that’s freedom in the music, experiencing the truth of it.
If you’re still learning your instrument, keep at it. If you're a dancer, keep at it. The freedom you’ll feel as an artist is unsurpassed.