Learn to Play the Doobie Brothers’ Roots Rock Anthem “Black Water”

Great songs sometimes come about through accidental discoveries in the recording studio, and that’s exactly what happened when Patrick Simmons, a founding member of the Doobie Brothers, was fooling around with his guitar between takes on a session about 50 years ago. When the band was making its 1973 album, The Captain and Me, Simmons happened upon what would become the main riff for “Black Water”—which became a single from their next album, What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits (1974). 

With a mellow, riparian vibe evoked by a distinctive combination of acoustic guitars, fiddle, and a cappella vocals—not to mention the Autoharp and wind chimes played by Arlo Guthrie—“Black Water” became an unlikely hit, reaching No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in March 1975. It remains one of the band’s most popular songs to this date. 

The notation here shows everything you need to play the song. Begin by getting into double-dropped-D tuning—lower both the first and sixth strings by a whole step, to D from E, using an electronic tuner if needed for accuracy. (For an intro to double dropped D, see the Weekly Workout in the September/October 2023 issue, or Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers’ book Dynamic Guitar.) With a moody Am11–D5 progression, the main riff in “Black Water” is based on simple chord shapes decorated with slides and hammer-ons. 

On the studio recording, this riff, heard in the intro, verses, solo, and other sections, is played on two acoustic guitars in unison. In the chorus, the instruments diverge to play interlocking parts in different positions for an appealing change of contrast and some subtly complex details beneath the surface. Note that the chord symbols here reflect the overall harmony—in bars 13, 15, and 17, the notes A and G (the chord’s seventh and 13th, respectively) suggest the Bbmaj13 symbol. 

While the electric guitar is synonymous with the solo in rock (and in many other Doobie Brothers songs), “Black Water” features an acoustic solo that requires a bit of dexterity and finesse to play convincingly. The solo begins with a series of bends that can be tricky to execute on an acoustic guitar with a heavy wound-G string. You may substitute slides for bends to achieve a similar effect—for instance, in bar 30, instead of bending the ninth-fret E up a whole step, just pick the E and then immediately slide up to the 11th-fret F# on the same string. 

After you’ve learned the main parts of “Black Water,” while you’re still in double dropped D, take the opportunity to explore the tuning—you never know, it just might inspire your next song.

Due to copyright restrictions, we are unable to post notation or tablature for this musical work. If you have a digital or physical copy of the September/October 2024 issue of Acoustic Guitar magazine, you will find the music on page 53.