How do I begin finally making music on the piano?

"I wish I could just sit and play something I hear clearly in my head, but I just can't. Any advice on how to make this happen?" 1) Learn to think in relative pitch by singing what you already know (or trying to learn*) in solfeggio. http://www.ibreathemusic.com/article/44 doing solfeggio by Gunharth Randolf starts with an explanation which addresses your feeling of "suddenly I realized I was just a trained monkey who learned how to type the works of Shakespeare without knowing language": Gunharth said, "Relative Pitch means that you are able to identify relationships between notes and chords in a theoretical and musical way ... If you think about harmony we are using a similar approach by giving arabic numbers to intervals and roman numerals to chords. Solfege is just an aural version of this system." By memorizing entire songs this way, you need not doubt if "It can't all be muscle/visual memory, can it?" any more. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solfeggio has detailed instruction on what to do when the piece is in a minor key, and I find memorizing songs in minor using both ways to be very very helpful. I disagree with it as to what to do when the piece modulates to another key. For example, if a piece begins in C major then modulates to G major, I would sing the section in G major using 'So' 'La' 'Ti' 'Do' 'Re' 'Mi' 'Fi' 'So' (singing G as 'So', F# as 'Fi', E as 'Mi', etc) until it modulates back to C major (in which F is simply 'Fa'). If a piece begins in G major then modulates to C major, I would sing the G major section using 'Do' 'Re' 'Mi' 'Fa' 'So' 'La' 'Ti' 'Do' (i.e. G as 'Do') and then the section in C major using 'Fa' 'So' 'La' 'Te' 'Do' 'Re' 'Mi' 'Fa' (i.e. G as Do, F natural as 'Te' ... C as Fa etc.). Basically, I move my movable 'Do' to what key signature in the score indicates, and then sing the accidentals as they appear on the score, instead of trying to move my 'Do' every time I sense a modulation happening. At first this is more difficult, but later this pays off handsomely by allowing me to remember better how music modulates between keys. 2) Apply the skills you have acquired in 1) by trying to play the songs you have memorized in solfeggio without the score on piano (just the melody at first). Before you begin, do this little trick to reinforce what is learned in step 1): Identify the key and the scale used in the piece you want to play this way. Put little stickers labelled with 'Do' 'Re' 'Mi' 'Fa' 'So' 'La' 'Ti' covering the scale identified on your piano. To cover the entire range used by the piece, you may need more than 7 stickers; just use as many as you need (but use at most 7 per octave: this helps to visualize different scales on piano). Although this may seem silly to you now, when you actually do it, it will make a lot of sense. Do try. Singing and playing at the same time may help too. 3) Move the stickers to other keys (e.g. if the orginal song is in F minor, try B minor), covering the keyboard differently, and try the song again. This is a true test of you ability to think in relative pitch. If you can pass the test, try doing it again without the stickers. If you view this as a challenge, playing the same song again and again in different keys can actually be a lot of fun! When you are okay with doing that with your right hand, try working on your left hand using material from http://faculty-web.at.northwestern.edu/music/gjerdingen/solfeggi/collections/index.htm, which "sometimes begin with elementary exercises of simple intervals in long note values. Presumably those exercises, often titled Scale e Salti (Scales and Leaps) were intended for rank beginners. Other collections from that period continue the progression of mechanical pattern-based exercises to a level of great difficulty." (*) you know pieces by Chopin but i would suggest you NOT to start with those because they have complex modulations in harmony and chromaticisms in melody which makes them harder to learn in solfeggio at first. perhaps start learning solfeggio with some material that has a more diatonic melody with simple or no modulations, then when you are secure with those, try more chromatic materials.