When my students are learning to pick out the melody I tell them to first begin with a song they know.

(First it is important that you know the letter names of the white notes on the piano and the C scale - for more info see www.thepianobyear.com)

When you are picking out the melody to a song, choose something easy like "Happy Birthday to You" or "Row, Row, Row, your Boat". This gives you some great practice without being too difficult. Here's the thought process for picking out the melody to "Row, Row, Row Your Boat".

1. Begin on the note Middle C with your right hand. (If you know where the C-Chord is, play it first so you can hear the full chord before beginning.)

2. Of course the first three pitches to the first 3 words is the same. Therefore, the melody (tune) note to the song will be the same fir the first three words...like this:

C C C
Row, row, row your boat...

Notice how that the melody note changes (it goes up only a little bit) for the words "your boat"...progressing up with each word. NOTE: I'm using the word "up" because it indicates the pitch has moved to a higher sound.

So, when looking at the "higher" notes after C...the next note could be D or E (depending on how much the melody note is raised). Well, when you listen to melody notes rise on the words "your boat" you'll hear that the change is very little. Therefore, the melody note for "your boat" must be D then E...like this:

C C C D E
Row, row, row your boat...

3. Notice how the first part of the word "gently" is the same note as "boat" (ie., it doesn't go higher or lower than the melody note for "boat". The pitch for the last part of the word "gently" lowers back to the same pitch as "your"...like this:

C C C D E E D
Row, row, row your boat...gent-ly down the stream.

Notice how "down the stream" the pitch continues to rise. What are the next three melody notes? You try!

Did you get it? It should be:

C C C D E E D E F G
Row, row, row your boat...gent-ly down the stream.

Last of all, notice how the very next melody note for the word "Merrily" goes much higher than the melody note for "stream". Guessing, where do you think the melody note will fall? Will it fall on A (the next note higher than G)? Probably not...because the melody not for "Merrily" is MUCH higher than the melody note for "stream". Try C! That's it! Try to finish the song...when you're done, check it to see if you were right!

The melody to the rest of the song should appear like this:

C C C D E E D E F G
Row, row, row your boat...gent-ly down the stream.

C C C G G G E E E C C C G F E D C
Merrily merrily merrily merrily...life is but a dream.

For more information about playing by ear, check out the information on my website at www.thepianobyear.com!