History Main / SongsInTheKeyOfLock

** Another puzzle, this one courtesy of the Riddler, featured a door and three keys, labelled "A", "C" and "D". Trying either the "A" or "D" key releases a few giant circular blades at the would-be solver, but the key of C? No sharps.

** ''Magazine/{{Dungeon}}'' magazine #49 adventure "Castle of the Blind Sun" has several magical doors which will open only if the notes B, G and C are played in that order on a musical instrument.

** ''Literature/{{Dungeon}}'' magazine #49 adventure "Castle of the Blind Sun" has several magical doors which will open only if the notes B, G and C are played in that order on a musical instrument.

* ''VideoGame/TheSeventhGuest'' has one [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nSDedyBnzg&feature=search shown here]] involving a piano. Technically, though, it's more of a Simon Says puzzle in this case.

* ''VideoGame/TotalDistortion'' uses this trope to varying degrees when your character fights [[MusicalAssassin Guitar Warriors]]. On low difficulty, power chords that you and your opponent play are colored, while high difficulty requires playing entirely by ear.

[[quoteright:350:[[Series/DoctorWho https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/musical_key05x.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[Recap/DoctorWho20thASTheFiveDoctors Hanging a painting of the unlock code]] on your [[BookcasePassage hidden door]] is the Time Lord equivalent of [[ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish setting your password to "password"]].]]

** Another episode, "Phantom of the Country Music Hall", had a musical code "FEBAG" that opened a secret passage. And yet another episode had the villain's name, Ace Decade, spelled out in a piece of sheet music. ScoobyDoo ''likes'' this trope.

* Pops up ''everywhere'' in Sharon Shinn's ''Literature/{{Samaria}}'' series. All angels are born with perfect pitch and singing voices, with which they can pray for all manner of divine intervention - rain or sunshine, cures for plagues, or even a good old-fashioned smiting. Meanwhile, enterprising mortals have come up with musical locking boxes and other such aural toys. The theme of musical control is so heavily emphasized that the nature of the Samarians' god winds up being something of an UnReveal.
* A shortcut to Abhorsen's House in ''Literature/{{Sabriel}}'' will only open to the sound of Mosrael, a bell which is otherwise never used in the series (it sends the ringer into Death).

* John Galt likes using a sound lock to protect things he doesn't want outsiders to see in ''Literature/AtlasShrugged'', although it's not sung. Backed up with SelfDestructingSecurity for anyone who tries to force their way in.

* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "The Paradise Syndrome". The obelisk left by the {{Pre|cursors}}servers had a door that opened in response to a specific sequence of sounds (musical notes or speech tones).

* In "Suckers," an episode of ''Series/{{CSI}}'' they investigated the robbery of a hotel vault. At the end Grissom realises that [[spoiler: the lock was programmed so the tones of the numerical keys would tap out the melody for "Three Little Maids From School" from ''Theatre/TheMikado''. A tune that would be familiar to the thieves; the manager was co-operating with them to carry out an insurance scam]].
* In one episode of ''Series/KyleXY'' Kyle and Jessie called Kyle's girlfriend to get her to play a song that opened a lock.
* In ''Series/DoctorWho'', "[[Recap/DoctorWho20thASTheFiveDoctors The Five Doctors]]", the fifth Doctor played a harp to get into the villain's lair. The tune itself was HiddenInPlainSight.
* In ''Series/StargateAtlantis'', Janis, an Ancient scientist, used three different tones played in order to hide his secret lab.

* There's an episode of ''Series/MacGyver1985'' ("The Heist") featuring an ultra-high-tech (for the time) lock which requires four tones emitted by a remote control. This being [=MacGyver=], he improvises by playing some wineglasses.
* In the ''Series/WhiteCollar'' episode "Empire City", the safe in the Cotton Club opens for a few bars of the jazz classic "Harlem on my Mind" as sung by the proprietor. Neal sneaks a vinyl recording of this music past the metal detector in order to open the safe.
* An episode of ''Series/{{Chuck}}'' involved a hidden compartment opened with a high C note. [[spoiler:Casey uses his choir-boy background to produce the note.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'', the vault for the [[MacGuffin Shen Gong Wu]] is opened by playing specific notes on wind chimes.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Towelie", Towelie attempts to remember the code to enter the "Secret Government Base". The buttons make a noise as they are pressed and Towelie plays the tune to "Funky Town". Which doesn't open the door.
** The episode "Imaginationland" uses this as an OverlyLongGag.

** Another episode, "Phantom of the Country Music Hall," had a musical code "FEBAG" that opened a secret passage. And yet another episode had the villain's name, Ace Decade, spelled out in a piece of sheet music. ScoobyDoo ''likes'' this trope.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'' episode "The Big Cheese", no one knows the combination to disable the new security system. No one, that is, except Cheese, who is singing the beeps the keypad made when it was entered. HilarityEnsues as the others try to figure out the combination one note at a time.
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'' had Heloise enter her secret lab in the AbsurdlySpaciousSewer by tap-dancing in rhythm on a manhole.
* ''WesternAnimation/JosieAndThePussycats in Outer Space'', episode "The Hollow Planet". A prison door unlocks when a whistle with a specific pitch is blown twice.
* ''WesternAnimation/AlvinAndTheChipmunks'' once got press-ganged into traversing an ancient temple, with traps that get disabled through singing. It seems, though, that any song will do as long as it's in chipmunk voices, since a second group of chipmunks go through it later by singing a completely different song than Alvin and his brothers did earlier.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'', Mr. E opens his vault by playing the first few notes of his signature theme.
* The ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' episode ''The Test'' has this in Pearl's room, where Steven must step on four lights in the correct order to open up the stairs. Afterwards, he must then dodge swinging axes. When Steven found out that Garnet's room was rigged, Steven returned to Pearl's room, where he found out that the axes phased through him, and that the same panels always allowed the stairs to open regardless if he stepped on the right panels or not.
--->'''Steven:''' It didn't even matter?!
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' which parodied ''Literature/TheDaVinciCode'' features Lisa on a hunt to find a mysterious treasure guarded by an order of nuns. A clue to the treasure informs seekers to devote themselves to God with "heart and soul"; Lisa realizes that this is a reference to the song of the same name and plays it on the convent's organ, activating a RubeGoldbergMachine that reveals the next part of the puzzle.

* ''VideoGame/AlidaTheEnigmaticGiant'' takes this UpToEleven. Vaults scattered around the island are fitted with sensitive microphones which pick up the sound from the island's massive, fully functional electric guitar. Each and every component of the guitar must be set correctly - and that includes the peghead, switch, and potentiometer dials, before the guitar's sound can open the doors, [[spoiler: provided a designated door has been primed to receive the sound, that is.]]

** However, this is made somewhat UnwinnableByDesign in the fact that almost none of these devices tell you if you've set them correctly, and even the strings don't sound any different after they've been properly tuned by the peghead.
** The same game also has a small keyboard of tubular bells that unlocks the tram to the Switch, which Arin gives you the code for. ([[GuideDangIt That is, if he's met you and you've tried playing that thing first.]])

Using music and musical instruments as security measures. Pianos or similar instruments are common, as you are [[IncrediblyLamePun blatantly dealing with keys]]. Can often be the way to conceal your secret lair by being HiddenInPlainSight. The tune itself may be significant/ironic, or the [[ThemeTuneCameo Theme Tune]] or {{Leitmotif}} of a character.

* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "The Paradise Syndrome". The obelisk left by the [[{{Precursors}} Preservers]] had a door that opened in response to a specific sequence of sounds (musical notes or speech tones).

* [[{{VideoGame/TheJourneymanProject}} The Journeyman Project 3]] has a set of Buddhist Prayer Wheels on which the player must playt a prayer chant. [[spoiler:One of them is squeaky and must be oiled first.]]

* There's an episode of ''Series/MacGyver'' featuring an ultra-high-tech (for the time) lock which requires four tones emitted by a remote control. This being [=MacGyver=], he improvises by playing some wineglasses.

* Several times in the ''Franchise/{{Ultima}}'' series, the Avatar has to play a simplified version of the song 'Stones' in order to gain a PlotCoupon or MacGuffin.

* ''Series/WonderWoman''. In the 1st season two-part episode ""Judgment From Outer Space", Wonder Woman meets a space alien named Andros. During Part 1 she hears him whistle a six note musical phrase, and in Part 2 she uses that same phrase to both open the outer hatch on his space ship ''and'' deactivate a force field inside the ship.

** In ''Film/{{Moonraker}}'', access to Drax's base is controlled by a musically coded keypad. The tune is the same notes the aliens use in ''Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind''.

* In ''Film/TheGoonies'', a creepy pirate organ opens a door or collapses the floor depending on wether you play the right tune or not.

** 2nd Edition adventure ''OA6 Ronin Challenge''. The Su-Rai Vault has a dangerous gas trap. One of the doors in the vault is covered with the notes of a simple tune. If a {{PC}} with the Singing or Music proficiency sings the tune or plays it on a musical instrument, the valve that releases the gas trap will stay sealed for 24 hours, allowing the {{PC}}s to explore the vault without being gassed.

* In ''Film/TheGoonies'', a creepy pirate organ opens a door or collapses the floor.

Using music and musical instruments as security measures. Pianos or similar instruments are common, as you are [[IncrediblyLamePun blatantly dealing with keys]]. Can often be the way to conceal your secret lair by being HiddenInPlainSight. The tune itself may be significant/ironic, or the [[ThemeTuneCameo Theme tune]] or {{Leitmotif}} of a character.

* ''Safecracker'' has a fairly easy puzzle in the Crabb & Sons mansion/office's music room, used to unlock a well-hidden safe inside a piano. The code is the first 14 notes of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.