Sitting on the Dock of the Bay

I don't have an answer for you, but I'm with you. I started working on this lesson last night. My biggest struggle last night was how to fit in the verse transitions with the regular verse strumming pattern.

Hope you get your answer soon

1st

I don't have an answer for you, but I'm with you. I started working on this lesson last night. My biggest struggle last night was how to fit in the verse transitions with the regular verse strumming pattern.

Hope you get your answer soon

1st

As for the regular Strumming Pattern:

G....................................B7

D-------DU-------UDU------DDUUDU
Sitting in the mooorning Sun

........C.....................................A

-------D-------DU-------UDU------DDUUDU
I'll be sitting in the Eeevening come

And so on ..

Remember that the Singer stretches 8) Single Words during the Verses (like the word "morning") .. maybe that makes it easier for you ... hope that helps somehow.

One more thing to add .. I start singing the Second Line (I'll be ..) while playing the UDU-Part of the B7 Chord in the First Bar .. it fit's perfectly for me then .. and you don't have to sing those 2 words without Music til you change to Cmaj Chord at the word "sitting" ... and so on ...

cheers,

Steelstring

1st Act asks:
My question is on the verse transitions in example #4. I'm not sure how they fit into the strumming. Do they replace the regular strumming pattern noted above it, or do you kinda add it in at the end of each verse?

Thanks

1st

Hi

my biggest trouble at the moment is to play it with all barre chords since the open chords are not so easy...anyway regarding the pattern the song is based, in the finest r&B tradition, on both syncopation and anticipation.

I play it with this pattern which really works well

D/ D/ du/ du (first measure)

u/D/du/u (2nd measure)

The key is to change chord on the fourth beat upstrum instead of the first of the second measure (as it would be without anticipation)

so it will be

G chord= d/ d/ du/ d u * * = play B chord

B chord= u/d/du/ u* * = play C chord

Hope to not have confused you more than before :-)!

Matteo

Hi everyone,

This may be a bit of a silly question but i am a beginner (that makes it all ok :-) ) To play the arpeggio style version of the song is it better to play using a pick or just fingerpicking? Cheers!

Nath

Hello everyone

I am new to the board but have been lurking around the site for a few weeks now.

Just practicing a bit of guitar now that I have a break from college studies, first time I have had a chance to play since purchasing my Yamaha FG700MS a few months ago. I am trying Otis Redding's The Dock of the bay: and I am a bit confused about one part of the lesson.

https://www.guitarnoise.com/lessons/sittin-on-the-dock-of-the-bay/

Near the end of the lesson, where we are introduced to the arpeggio method, it is unclear to me what exactly to strum or pick for the "A cord" section...seen bellow.

The lesson mentions transitioning between A/Asus4/Asus2 ,but the notation sounds nothing like what is played in the provided mp3.

Can you give me some guidance, as to what I should be playing at this part of the song?

Thank you all.

Hi Scott
I haven't tried this song yet but I intend to.

I usually play the A chord with pinky, ring, and middle finger.
but to play this you'd have to play it with ring, middle and index finger because you'll need your pinky for the 3rd fret of the B string.

the notation has you plucking the open A string,
then the D string fretted at 2,
the G string fretted at 2
the B string fretted at 2 (all three of those make the normal A chord)

then you drop your pinky on the B string at the 3 fret = Asus4 (That's the hard part)
lift it back up and pluck it again at the 2 fret = A
and then lift your ring finger on the B string so that the string is open = Asus2
finally pluck the G string at the 2nd fret.

The next note is the third fret of the low E string.
Reach over with your pinky to catch that one.

I'm going to move your thread to the pre-existing thread in the lessons forum. (by the way, please take a look at the special rules for posting in the lessons forum when you get a chance. That forum is managed a bit differently from the others and has some restrictions about posting. But your question is a perfect fit).

Hi Scott and welcome to Guitar Noise

And my apologies as well for being so far behind in my email that I didn't answer this question when you sent it to me the day before Christmas.

The notation is actually very close to the MP3, there are two reversed notes and one different one as I was playing an A7 instead of A in the MP3. In the original example, I tried to make the measure of A as straight forward as possible and what happens then is when I play it for the recording, I throw in stuff that I just do without thinking. Not very helpful and I apologize. It's also one of the reasons that I stress in every lesson that the examples are supposed to be guides to get you going. No one in his or her right mind should want to play like I do anyway :wink:

The measure of A in the MP3 is played like this:
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +

E - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
B - - - - - - - - 2 - - - - - 3 - - 2 - - 0 - - - - - - -
G - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 0 - - - -
D - - - - - 2 - - - - - 2 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A - - 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
E - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Again, I can't stress enough that this is only another variation of what was originally given. It's not a matter of better or worse. By playing around with it yourself, you'll probably come up with something that you find sounds better than both.

I hope this helps. Thanks again for your patience in getting a reply and welcome again to Guitar Noise. I look forward to seeing you around on the boards.

Peace