History Main / MusicalGag

* "Faerie's Aire And Death Waltz" by John Stump; aside from the nonsensical stage directions like "adagio cantabile with a rock tempo feel", "tune the uke", "cresc. or not", and "play ball!", even a layperson looking at the score should be easily able to tell that it's intentionally unplayable.

** In ''Kirby: Planet Robobot'', you fight [[CloningBlues a clone of King Dedede]], who eventually splits into [[MesACrowd three copies]]. The song that plays in the second phase of the fight, "Dedede's Tridimensional Cannon", is an arrangement of King Dedede's theme in 3/4 (in other words, triple time).

* SorryILeftTheBGMOn

** Starting in ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'', wind ambience tracks usually have hidden melodies snuck into them. In ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'' in particular, if you wait long enough before the fight with Meta Knight, he'll start quietly whistling his own {{leitmotif}}.

* In ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'', the FiveManBand calls itself the "SOS Brigade". One of the [[ImageSong image songs]]' beat is the Morse Code for "SOS".

** In "Canon by Intervallic Agumentation," a song based on the theme (famously used in Music/JohannSebastianBach's ''Art of the Fugue'') whose notes spell out B-A-C-H is played on a different record player, which distends the intervals so that the notes instead spell C-A-G-E, as in Music/JohnCage. When a third record player plays the song, the intervals are stretched even further so that the notes of the theme spell B-C-A-H.

* In ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'', the ''Godmaster'' DLC brings us [[spoiler:[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFRleTfv1tk Truth, Beauty and Hatred feat. Zote]], which plays during the [[BonusBoss Eternal Ordeal]]. It's just a remix of Truth, Beauty and Hatred (the theme of Grey Prince Zote), but with Zote's rough, scratchy voice singing over it.]] And if ''that'' wasn't enough, [[spoiler:killing [[ArcNumber 57]] Zotes within the Eternal Ordeal unlocks a custom title screen, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2INO6ygetos with Zote (poorly) singing to the title theme.]]]]

* In music, a Musical Gag is a joke that comes from somewhere other than the lyrics.

* The main soundtrack for ''Pinball/TheTwilightZone '' is an instrumental version of the 1982 song "Twilight Zone", by Music/GoldenEarring.

* In Music/JohannSebastianBach's BattleOfTheBands cantata "The Contest Between Phoebus and Pan" (BWV 201), the violins during Midas's aria proclaiming Pan as master do donkey imitations, foreshadowing Midas's KarmicTransformation.

* In ''Theatre/ALittleNightMusic'', the song "Perpetual Anticipation" begins as a three-part round.

* In ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'', Alucard would inform you that this disc only has game data. It would then play some music before going into the game data and being annoying static.

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' associates most major characters with specific instruments. Peridot's is a triangle wave, and she has [[AnimeHair triangular hair]]. Ruby's is a square wave, as she has a [[FunnyAfro cubic afro]].

* "Faerie's Aire And Death Waltz" could be considered this, in that even a layperson looking at the score should be easily able to tell that it's intentionally unplayable.

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' used a ''Series/LeaveItToBeaver'' style soundtrack to make [[spoiler: Cartman injecting Kyle with his own AIDS infected blood]] sound like Wacky Hijinks.

** In "Six-Part Ricercar," the Crab adds a mordant to the theme from Music/JohannSebastianBach's ''The Musical Offering'', so that the notes spell "Babbage, C(harles)" backwards.

* In ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'', Schroeder whistles [[Music/{{LudwigVanBeethoven}} Beethoven's]] F minor sonata to call Snoopy in; the MusicalGag is that this would require whistling two notes at once. Later strips have Woodstock whistling similarly complex melodies.

* "Faerie's Aire And Death Waltz" could be considered a MusicalGag, in that even a layperson looking at the score should be easily able to tell that it's intentionally unplayable.

On occasion, the {{Leitmotif}} for a JokeCharacter will itself be a MusicalGag.

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' associates most major characters with specific instruments. Peridot's is a triangle wave, a play on her [[AnimeHair triangular hair]]. Likewise, Ruby's is a square wave, as she has a [[FunnyAfro cubic afro]].

* In the movie ''DownWithLove'', a character claims that something doesn't ring a bell. The soundtrack contradicts him.

** After the TruckDriversGearChange on "Bake Me a Country Ham" ("Paint Me a Birmingham" by Tracy Lawrence), Cledus raises the pitch on his voice to make him sound even more like Tracy Lawrence.

** He likes to make the musical instruments miss notes on purpose, such as the piano riffs in "Every Light in the House Is Blown" ("Every Light in the House" by Trace Adkins) and "Coronary Life" ("Ordinary Life" by Chad Brock), and the deliberately off-key guitar solo in "Breath" ("Breathe" by Music/FaithHill).

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' associates most major characters with specific instruments. Peridot's is a triangle wave, a play on her [[AnimeHair triangular hair]].