Piano chords · Bossa beach
The Dock Of The Bay: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
By Otis Redding
- G major
- 4/4
- 92 BPM
- 1967
- Medium
Play the full song with sheet music
The accompaniment with every note named, bar by bar: the bar sheet shows each note as a bar on the staff with its letter inside, so you can accompany The Dock Of The Bay without reading music. The left hand plays bossa seesaw (root–fifth 1-1-5-5) and the right hand pumping chords.
The Dock Of The Bay accompaniment in letter notes
The G – B – C – B loop with bossa seesaw in the left hand and pumping chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.
How to read the bar sheet
The player above shows the treble staff (right hand) over the bass staff (left hand). Every note is a bar as long as it sounds, at its place on the staff, with its name inside, and the music scrolls past a line that marks now. The chord names run along the top.
Start with the left hand alone at a slow speed, then the right, then both. When the letters feel easy, try the sheet music.
Play next
Questions about The Dock Of The Bay
What are the letter notes for the The Dock Of The Bay piano accompaniment?
Bar by bar, both hands: the bar sheet on this page names every note of the accompaniment (C4 is middle C) and plays along. The loop is G – B – C – B, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in The Dock Of The Bay?
The loop is G – B – C – B (I – III – IV – III) in G major, and the song ends on C – D – G.
What key is The Dock Of The Bay in?
G major, at about 92 beats a minute in 4/4.
What does the left hand play in The Dock Of The Bay?
Bossa seesaw: root–fifth 1-1-5-5, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is The Dock Of The Bay easy to play on piano?
It is a medium one: learn the 4 chords as blocks first, then add the left hand, then the right, slowly.
Made from 2 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.