Sittin On The Dock Of The Bay Cifras

Song: (Sittin' on) The dock of the bay
Artist: Otis Redding
Composers: Otis Redding and Steve Cropper
 
Tabbed by DJ  27th Mar 2015
 
PLAYING INFO:
Emphasise the bass notes of each chord.
Any inversions of the main chords will work fine,
I just prefer to use mainly barre chords for
the Verses, and then the 1st inversions for the
descending bass notes in the Choruses.
The G/D in the INTRO and the E/B in the CODA are the
standard G and E chords but just emphasising the
alternating bass note. For the Asus4 chords in
Verse 2, hammer-on on the 2nd string note.
 
The BRIDGE is based more on the 'Remember me' album
version (Link shown near top of page).
Quickly slide-up from the F to the G, and also slide
the Em to the F. If this is tricky for you, skip the
first passing chord and go straight to the second
chord in each case.
 
IGNORE THE CHORD BOX DIAGRAMS that the website
displays, they are generated automatically from a
generic database and often don't show the best
options for a particular chord progression. Just use
the voicings suggested in the text column numbers
 
Chords in brackets are intended to be played as
bass note progressions only
 
[Intro chords]
G = 3-2-0-0-3-3   G/D = x-x-0-0-3-3
 
[Verse chords]
G = 3-5-5-4-3-3   C  = 8-10-10-9-8-8
B = 7-9-9-8-7-7   Bb = 6-8-8-7-6-6 
 
[Chorus chords]
 G     = 3-2-0-0-3-3    E  = 0-2-2-1-0-0
(G)    = 3-x-x-x-x-x    A  = x-0-2-2-2-0
(G/F#) = 2-x-x-x-x-x    A4 = x-0-2-2-3-0
(G/F)  = 1-x-x-x-x-x
 
[Bridge chords]
G = 3-2-0-0-3-3    (C)   = x-3-x-x-x-x
D = x-x-0-2-3-2    (C/B) = x-2-x-x-x-x
C = x-3-2-0-1-0     F    = 1-3-3-2-1-1
                    Em   = 0-2-2-0-0-0
 
[Coda chords]
G   = 3-2-0-0-3-3   E   = 0-2-2-1-0-0
G/D = x-x-0-0-3-3   E/B = x-2-2-1-0-0
 
Please take a second to scroll down to the bottom of
the page and select a star rating for my tab, thanks
=====================================================
[Intro] - See bottom of page for Intro riff
  G  G/D    G  G/D    G  G/D    G  G/D
| / / / / | / / / / | / / / / | / / / / |
  ^   ^ ^   ^   ^ ^   ^   ^ ^   ^   ^ ^
[Verse 1]
G                      B
Sittin' in the morning sun,
        C                C   B  Bb   A
I'll be sittin' when the eve----ning comes,
G                       B
Watching the ships roll in,
B      Bb   B C              C  B   Bb A
   And then I watch 'em roll a- way a- gain ...Yeah!
 
[Chorus]
    G              (G) (G/F#)(G/F) E
I'm sittin' on the dock of    a    bay,
             G    (G)  (G/F#)(G/F) E
Watching the tide roll------- a  - way,
             G                        A
Oo, I'm just sittin' on the dock of a bay,
        G    (G)(G/F#)(G/F) E
Wasting time-----------------!
 
[Verse 2]
  G       G    A  Bb B
I left my ho - me in Georgia,
C               C     B  Bb A    A A4   A A4
Headed for the 'Fris- co--- Bay,
      G         G     A   Bb B
Well, I've had noth - ing to live for,
              C               C    B  Bb  A
And look like nothing's gonna come my---- way
 
[Chorus]
                   G          (G) (G/F#)(G/F)E
So, I'm just gonna sit on the dock of    a   bay,
             G    (G)(G/F#)(G/F) E
Watching the tide roll----- a  - way,
        G                        A
Oo, I'm sittin' on the dock of a bay,
         G   (G)(G/F#)(G/F) E
Wasting time-------------------!
 
[Bridge]
G       D        C                        (C)(C)(C/B)
   Look like  ...nothing's gonna change,
G          D     C                        (C)(C)(C/B)
   Every - thing ...still remains the same,
G          D       C          F    G
   I can't do what ten people tell me to do,
Em  F                         D
       So, I guess, I'll re - main the same, ...yes!
 
[Verse 3]
G            G      A   Bb B
Sittin' here rest - ing my bones,
         C                C     B  Bb  A
And this loneliness won't leave me a - lone,
        G            G    A   Bb B
It's ...two thousand mi - les I  roam,
        C         C    B  Bb  A
Just to make this dock my---- home
 
[Chorus]
                    G          (G) (G/F#)(G/F) E
Now, I'm just gonna sit at the dock of    a    bay,
             G    (G)(G/F#)(G/F) E
Watching the tide roll----- a  - way,
                G                      A
Hoo - wee, just sittin' on a dock of a bay,
         G   (G)(G/F#)(G/F) E
Wasting time-----------------!
 
[Coda - whistling]
    G  G/D    G  G/D    G  G/D    E   E/B
||: / / / / | / / / / | / / / / | / / / / :|| [x2]
    ^   ^ ^   ^   ^ ^   ^   ^ ^   ^   ^ ^
=====================================================
[Intro]
      G     G/D             G     G/D
e |---------3-3---3-3---|---------3-3---3-3---|
B |---------3-3---3-3---|---------3-3---3-3---|
G |---------0-0---0-0---|---------0-0---0-0---| [x2]
D |---------0-0---0-0---|---------0-0---------|
A |---------------------|---------------------|
E |---3---3-------------|---3---3-------------|
 
 Alternative option for the Intro:
(Palm mute the bridge to emulate the bass guitar)
                         h = Hammer-on notes
e |--------------------|--------------------|
B |--------------------|--------------------|
G |--------------------|--------------------| [x2]
D |--------------------|--------------------|
A |--------3-h5--3-h5--|--------3-h5--3-h5--|
E |--3---3-------------|--3---3-------------|
X