Standards
Cheese Cake chords & key
- Key
- C minor
- Form
- AAB
- Bars
- 40
- Groove
- Medium-up swing
- Time signature
- 4/4
“Cheese Cake” is a jazz standard by Dexter Gordon. It is usually played in C minor as a medium-up swing, and the 40-bar AAB form has 3 sections. Harmonically it contains no major ii–V–I cadences and 11 minor ii–V–i, uses 14 different chords and moves between the key centres C minor, F minor and E♭ minor. In this atlas it appears in 1 transcribed solo.
Chord changes
Showing in: Concert (C) — C minor
Changes as commonly played (concert pitch). Your band's version may differ.
Harmonic analysis
Most used chords
- Cm69×9
- Dm7♭5×8
- G7♭13×6
- Fm69×6
- Fm7×3
- B♭7×3
Key centres reached by ii–V
C minor, F minor and E♭ minor
Transcribed solos on Cheese Cake
| Dexter Gordon tenor saxophone | 221 BPM |
Standards with similar changes
Similarity of the chord progression, independent of key.
| Title | Key |
|---|---|
| Decision 36% | F minor |
| Chucho 31% | D minor |
| Serenade To A Cuckoo 25% | F minor |
| I'm A Fool To Want You 23% | E minor |
| Minority 23% | F minor |
| You And The Night And The Music 23% | C minor |
| Summertime 22% | A minor |
| Birk's Works 20% | F minor |
Frequently asked questions
What key is Cheese Cake in?
Cheese Cake is usually played in C minor. For B♭ instruments that is D minor, for E♭ instruments A minor.
Who wrote Cheese Cake?
Cheese Cake was written by Dexter Gordon.
What is the form of Cheese Cake?
Cheese Cake has 3 sections (AAB) with 40 bars in total.
How fast is Cheese Cake played?
The usual groove is Medium-up swing. Transcribed solos in our data were played at 221 BPM.
What are the chord changes to Cheese Cake?
The opening bars are Cm69 | Dm7b5 G7b13 | Cm69 | Cm69 C7b9. The full chart above can be transposed to any key.