This song’s intro is an instrumental featuring the guitar. It helps make this blues song very unique. It’s not for the faint of heart, though. There are a few quick passages that may trouble some players.
In the video below I’ll play the entire intro for you:
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“(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” is a song co-written by soul singer Otis Redding and guitarist Steve Cropper. It was recorded by Redding twice in 1967, including once just days before his death in a plane crash.
Sitting-On-The-Dock-Of-The-Bay
Barre chords are used in the original recording.
You could play a more basic version that only uses open chords. You can still provide some of the “walk”.
Take the chord/lyric sheet and instead of using barre chords, just use the open chord form of the chords listed:
G B7
Sittin' in the mornin' sun
C A
I'll be sittin' when the evenin' comes
G B7
Watching the ships roll in
C A
And then I watch 'em roll away again, yeah
Here we go, just using open chords:
But, what about that cool walk from the C chord down to the A chord as found in the original transcription?
We can even add an additional walk from the G chord up to the B chord:
Here is the riff at 120 bpm:
The song’s tempo is at about 98 beats per minute. It’s in standard 4/4 time and the rhythm uses a shuffle pattern. Stevie Ray Vaughan recorded the song using a 12 string acoustic guitar. If you don’t have a 12 string, that’s okay. It sounds great on a six-string acoustic, too. It’s one of those rare SRV songs in standard tuning.
In this lesson, we’ll be looking at the intro lick to the song which takes place in the measures 1 and 2.
Wouldn’t you know it! The hardest part to play of Life By The Drop is the very first part. Stevie sets things up nicely with a tasteful two measure lick.
This lick seems straightforward but it is deceptively difficult. It’s not real fast, but that’s not the problem. It’s got a certain swing to it and accents that give it character.
The main thing to keep in mind when learning it is to maintain the steady triplet pattern. That’s what gives it that swing.
Here’s how to play the main riff from Johnny Cash’s version of the song “Hurt”.
