THe playing by ear bit is which notes to play and when. The piano is a very simple instrument to get a good sound out of, but there are some very important ways to play that will slow you down in the long run if you develop bad habits early on. Here are three things you can do to make picking things up by ear easier:
Learn Scales -
play just the white keys until you find the major scale. Do Re Me Fa So La Te and do again. memorize the pattern.
Play one key with each of you fingers on both hands. See the pattern?
b b b b b
w w w w w w w w
l r m i i m r l
1 1 1 1/2 1 1 1 1/2 Whole steps (two keys) 1/2 half step ( one key)
Start on each note and find the pattern. Those are all the major scales.
Most melodies are in major scale pattens amd many only use five of the seven notes.
These are called pentatonic scales.
Minor is the 2nd most common scale and it is based on
two white keys down from the major scale in the first example.
b b b b b
w w w w w w w w
l r m i i m w l
1 1/2 1 1 1/2 1 1
Learn Melodies -
find some melodies
pick out a melody you know like twinkle twinkle little star. Find all the notes.
Learn Chords -
Chords are just every other note in the scale.
on the white keys only
Play every other note for three notes. Move up a key do it again. Hear the difference?
Some are major Chords because they start on the major pattern.
Some are minor Chords because they start on the minor pattern.
One is diminished because it is... :)