George Winston

My Cover Version of “Living In The Country” by George Winston

/ Janeen / Leave a comment

Hey guys!!!

Finally more music on the blog 🙂 I’ll get back to some original stuff soon, but I have been OBSESSED with playing this song lately. It is my favorite “summer” song to play & now that our weather finally feels like summer here, I’ve been spending lots of time outside in our beautiful backyard enjoying the weather & soaking in all the things I love about summer & nice weather (literally….my horrible sunburn from the other day is proof. Oops!). I feel like this song is an expression of all those things I love about nice summer days (minus the sunburns).

This has always been one of my absolute favorite George Winston songs!! As I mentioned in this other post of me playing George Winston’s “Kanon”, George does publish some of his sheet music…..but not all. George only has published sheet music for a handful of his songs, & I was disappointed to learn that this one did not make the cut. So, one day about a year ago, after years & years of listening to this song & wishing I could play it, I decided to take it upon myself to learn it by ear.

As I dove in, I realized that George’s version is in a pretty difficult key with lots of sharps & flats. So, in my angst to learn it as quickly as possible, I decided to try it out in the good ol’ key of C 😉 Within an hour, I had it down!! It’s not exactly like the recorded version, but that’s the beauty of music…..this is my take on George’s melody & it just makes me so happy every time I sit down to play it.

I hope you enjoy my take on this song!! George is one of my favorite composers, so I hope I did this song justice. Enjoy “Living In The Country!”

If you liked this & want to hear more, visit my music page on the blog or subscribe to my youtube channel.

Thanks for following my melody!

Until next time,

– Janeen

Me Playing George Winston’s “Variations on the Kanon by Pachelbel” – Dedication to My Mom :)

/ Janeen / 5 Comments

Hello!!

I’m so excited to share this video with you today!! It is from back in November when I was home for Thanksgiving. This one is not one of my original songs, BUT it is very special to my heart.

Growing up, my mom LOVED to listen to George Winston’s CD’s. We shared a love for his music and this was one of our favorites! George hadn’t printed his sheet music at the time, which was sad to me because I would have loved to learn his songs. After my long break from piano in college, once I moved to Valentine & got my piano back in my life, I was on the search for more piano music to learn & I came across a piano book that George had released of some of his favorites and KANON was included!! I ordered it immediately & decided that I would learn this song.

As soon as I started learning it, I was so excited & wanted to tell my mom, but then decided that I would keep it a secret from her & surprise her over the holidays! So, I was on a mission. This was the first song in over 5 years that I really had to work at, put my nose to the grind, take it section by section, & practice practice practice! I had it down by Thanksgiving, so I told my mom that I had a surprise for her & we went to church to use their grand piano there. As I started playing, I could hear my mom crying behind me, which made it really hard to pull it together & see my music through my own tears. I made it through though & it truly was one of the most special moments of my life. I think of my mom every time I play this song. She’s a very inspirational woman & I don’t know what I’d do without her! This song is for HER!! 🙂

It is moments like these when I’m most grateful for my gift. These are the moments that give me such fulfillment & joy from playing the piano – when I can touch the hearts of others, especially my loved ones! Hope you enjoy this “Variations on the Kanon by Pachelbel,” by George Winston.

Ohh and kudos to my wonderful husband, Brandon, for his fabulous page-turning abilities 😉

Thanks for listening everyone!!

– Janeen