I'm playing guitar pretty good right now, but I figured… It's kinda easy to learn that if you try, but yet I've been playing piano for a year and, while being pretty good (I just figured out two songs by ear), I can't combine both hands, therefore… I generally have nothing. Well, nobody's gonna pay a teacher to teach me, sooo… What's the best way to learn piano, aside from having a teacher?
It's important to be able to read music. Playing by ear isn't always the way you would like it to sound…just record yourself, and then hear the difference from a record or CD. Learning about "cords" and the differences is all about music,… mood, beat, etc. You can do some of this on your own, but you have to research, read books about music. If you are really interested in music, ;you will spend a lot of your time do just that; learning about music, and practice, practice, practice.