This paper discusses music education as lifelong learning and leisure, based on the analysis of two public cultural spaces. These cultural centers - one administered by the state and the other by the municipality - offer free music classes for adults in a capital city of Northeastern Brazil, recognized for having the highest social inequality index among Brazilian capitals. We understand that such initiatives constitute public policies of Lifelong Learning (LLL), as proposed by UNESCO (2022), by providing continued educational opportunities for people who previously lacked access to formal music education.This discussion derives from a broader study whose general objective was to understand what music means to adults (or older adults) engaged in other professions or activities who, by their own initiative and motivation, seek some form of music instruction with the aim of learning to play an instrument or to sing. The specific objectives were to: (a) identify the profile of these learners and their motivations for pursuing musical study or practice at this stage of life; (b) analyze the personal and subjective relationship they establish with music at this moment in their lives; (c) identify their conceptions of musicality; (d) examine how their current studies relate to their previous musical experiences; and (e) assess how they engage with the pedagogical approaches implemented in the institutions where they study.A qualitative methodology was adopted, based on autobiographical narrative interviews with seven participants in each institution, conducted between September 2021 and August 2025. The narratives were examined through a three-temporal analysis method, revealing significant experiences and pedagogical potentialities for music education. The main results indicate that these public and free educational spaces enable adults to learn to play instruments or to sing. As they do not follow rigid curricula, such non-formal education contexts are more flexible and better suited to the interests of those who pursue music as leisure or personal development. This group tends to demonstrate greater clarity about their goals and autonomy to choose - or abandon - activities that do not meet their expectations.It can be concluded that initiatives of this kind play a fundamental social role: they democratize access to music education, welcome interrupted learning trajectories, and constitute effective LLL policies. Thus, they represent alternatives to traditional music education, aligned with Bowman’s (2018) perspective on the ethical, formative, and inclusive character of music education.