Relative Pitch:
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Get a handle on the relative pitch and you're onto something special. When people refer to "playing by ear," this is what they are usually referring to.
The ability to be able to instantly recognize musical relationships, including distances between notes (music intervals) and between chords being played - along with the recognition of combinations of these - results in a musician being able to reproduce what he or she hears on demand. You already have this ability... the right kind of guidance will simply make you more and more aware of it!
A tiny example: play a "C" on your piano keyboard. Now sing it. Using this "C" as your starting note, sing or hum "When The Saints Go Marching In" ... pay attention to the movement from that first note "C" to the second note of the song as you sing. Now match that note on the piano. You would eventually find out for yourself that is an "E." This distance (interval) from "C" to "E" has a special sound all its own.
Now if you really know "When The Saints Go Marching In" from repeated exposure to it throughout the years (I picked that one for this reason), you would be able to easily sing the first two notes of the song starting on any other note.
Try if from a "G," for example. Then follow the same procedure as above... since you are already familiar with the song, you will already be likely to sing the next note without thinking about it - and you'll likely be able to easily find that note on the piano... even if you didn't know it exactly, based on the distance you jumped on the keyboard as in the first example, you could at least come very close.
This is just one example, of course. And the same "relativity" can be used when recognizing the movement from one chord to another (chord progression).
Again, you can train your ear a little at a time (without much effort). The right kind of guidance will be of tremendous help. I strongly suggest you become involved with a program like this one which will give you much more comprehensive assistance with this wonderful skill that you definitely want to refine.
It will be helpful to remember that training your "musical ears" should never be forced. It is a process that you want to learn to love becoming engaged in, accepting and appreciating your results as you realize them, and always being open to further progress.
By making a commitment to hone your relative pitch skills, you are absolutely on your way to becoming a musician's musician!
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