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Otis Redding · 1968

(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay

11 notes across the harmonic analysis · 5 different passage shapes.

Chord-derived pitch classes, after David Temperley. The melody and other unannotated notes are not included. Method & limits

C1G2D3A4E5B6G♭7D♭8A♭9E♭10B♭F0

All annotated harmonies combined

Whole analysis

Circle 2047 · 11 notes

C · D♭ · D · E♭ · E · F · G♭ · G · A♭ · A · B

Does not fit inside one diatonic scale. This combines notes across time; compare the passages below to see where the field changes.

CG0D1AEB4G♭D♭A♭E♭B♭F

Source passage · In

Intro

Circle 25 · 3 notes

D · G · B

Fits within a diatonic collection; no tonic is implied. This field belongs to this passage, not necessarily the whole song.

C0G1D2A3E4B5F♯6C♯7G♯D♯9A♯F

Source passage · Vr

Verse

Circle 1021 · 9 notes

C · C♯ · D · D♯ · E · F♯ · G · A · B

Does not fit inside one diatonic scale. This field belongs to this passage, not necessarily the whole song.

CG0D1A2E3B4F♯C♯6G♯7D♯A♯F

Source passage · Ch

Chorus

Circle 251 · 7 notes

C♯ · D · E · G · G♯ · A · B

Does not fit inside one diatonic scale. This field belongs to this passage, not necessarily the whole song.

C1G2D3A4E5B6G♭7D♭A♭E♭B♭F0

Source passage · Br

Bridge

Circle 255 · 8 notes

C · D · E · F · G♭ · G · A · B

Does not fit inside one diatonic scale. This field belongs to this passage, not necessarily the whole song.

CG0D1AE3B4G♭D♭A♭E♭B♭F

Source passage · Fadeout

Fadeout

Circle 27 · 4 notes

D · E · G · B

Fits within a diatonic collection; no tonic is implied. This field belongs to this passage, not necessarily the whole song.

Source & interpretation

David Temperley’s harmonic analysis of (Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay ↗, from the de Clercq–Temperley RS 200 corpus. Retrieved 19 October 2026.

The complete field includes all harmonies in the source’s S rule. The passages are its named top-level units; direct chords outside those units still contribute to the whole field. Repeated units with the same notes are merged. Labels such as “Passage A” preserve the source where a conventional section name is not given.

Notes and circle assignments are calculated by Chordfields from that analysis. They have not been independently verified against the recording. Read the full method.