(Sittin' On) the Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding

Overview

Key: G major · Chords used: 9 · Sections: 9

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Bridge → Verse → Chorus → Outro

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). This page shows that transcription as-is: the analysis below is generated directly from it by code, not written by AI. Consecutive repeats of a chord are shown once, and the piano voicings are our playable arrangement of each chord symbol, not a note-for-note transcription.

Section by section

Intro

• G
  I

Verse 1

• G – B – C – A (×2)
  I – III – IV – II

Chorus 1

• G – Emadd9 (×2)
  I – viadd9
• G – A – G – E
  I – II – I – VI

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Bridge

• G – D – C (×3)
  I – V – IV
• G – F – D
  I – bVII – V

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Outro

• G – Em (×2)
  I – vi

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• F (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0645, CC0), via ChoCo.
• Not verified: only one expert transcription of this song is available so far.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.