A piano roll is a common input interface into DAWs. A piano roll is a graphic representation of a piano keyboard (usually on the left of the display), and a grid connected to the keys. By drawing marks on the grid of the piano roll, you are programming the notes on the instrument. The easiest way to think of this is that it is the digital version of a player piano. If the spot is marked, it will play that note. If you want to play a chord, draw the corresponding notes.
Piano rolls are also a good interface for cleaning up imperfect or sloppy playing from a MIDI input device. If you record the notes from an external interface (keyboard, drum machine, etc), you can manually adjust the layout in the piano roll to be spot-on without re-recording it.
Variations on the piano roll include a "drum mode" which marks the point where the drums are triggered, rather than the customary rectangles that are used to mark the duration of a note.
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