Editing In C (section)

===Score===
The score of ''In C'' consists of 53 modules that fit on a single page. Each module is a short musical phrase notated in [[treble clef]] without a [[time signature]] and bracketed by [[repeat sign]]s. Riley uses nine different pitches, only omitting C{{music|sharp}} and E{{music|flat}} from the [[chromatic scale]].<ref name=Reed>Reed, S. Alexander. 2011. "''In C'' on Its Own Terms: A Statistical and Historical View". ''[[Perspectives of New Music]]'' 49, no. 1 (Winter): 47–78. {{doi|10.7757/persnewmusi.49.1.0047}}</ref>{{rp|49}} 

The total duration of the written score is only 521 [[eighth note]]s. The shortest module lasts one 8th note, and the longest lasts 64. The material varies widely in character, from drones to running [[Sixteenth note|16th note]] figures. Three of the modules are repeated: Nos. 10 (as 41), 11 (as 36), and 18 (as 28). The longest figure is #35, which spans 60 pulses, ranges an octave and a half, and includes seven of the score's pitches. Its length creates a sense of figure 35 as a turning point in the piece, creating a symmetry or even hinting at a very loose [[ternary form]].<ref name=Reed/>{{rp|52}}

Riley indicates no tempo, instrumentation, or dynamics. The notation is extremely uncluttered, and by implication, open to a wide range of interpretation. The first melody outlines a [[major third]] with its three [[quarter note]] Es ornamented with [[grace note]] Cs. The final melody is a minor third between G and B{{music|flat}} played in sixteenth notes. The structure of the melodic modules creates a vague sense of tonal shifts, for instance from C to E and then C to G.<ref name=Riley68/>

All of the [[Motif (music)|motifs]] are [[Diatonic and chromatic|diatonic]] until #14, which introduces an F{{music|sharp}}. The raised fourth [[Degree (music)|scale degree]] prevails until module 31 when the F{{music|natural}} returns. The F{{music|sharp}} makes one final appearance in module 35, shortly after a B{{music|flat}} is introduced. The seventh scale degree returns to B{{music|natural}} until #49, where it remains lowered until the end of the piece. Riley composed the modules with strong interrelations. Rarely is a module not clearly related to its predecessor.<ref>Hanninen, Dora A. ''A Theory of Music Analysis: On Segmentation and Associative Organization''. [[Boydell & Brewer|University of Rochester Press]], 2012. 313f.</ref>