I was just moseying along on old, two-lane Route 66 east of Albuquerque, New Mexico, a few years ago and I encountered this sign.

And then just past it, this one.

And then they were in my rearview mirror.

I took a u-turn.

On the way back I noticed some ridges in the pavement on that lane just past the signs and quickly realized what I had nearly missed.

A musical highway!  So I did as the sign said.  Drove a steady 45 mph with the right hand tires on the long strip of rough pavement, and my wheels drummed out the notes of the National Anthem!

Technical description: A musical road is a road, or section of a road, which when driven over causes a tactile vibration and audible rumbling that can be felt through the wheels and body of the vehicle. This rumbling is heard within the car as well as the surrounding area, in the form of a musical tune.   Musical roads are known to currently exist in Denmark, Hungary, Japan, South Korea, the United States, China, Iran, Taiwan, and Indonesia.

And here’s how it all happens, in case want to know: Each note is produced by varying the spacing of strips in, or on, the road. For example, an E note requires a frequency of around 330 vibrations a second. Therefore strips 2.4 in apart will produce an E note in a vehicle travelling at 45 mph.  (I lifted that straight from Wikipedia, and no, I do not understand it)

The first known musical road, appropriately called the Asphaltophone, was created in 1995 in Denmark.

Unfortunately, the musical stretch I encountered in tiny Tijeras, New Mexico, back in 2018 is silent now.  Funded by the National Geographic Society and coordinated by the state department of transportation as an effort to get folks to slow down, it was not maintained well.  Over the years, the ridges wore down or were paved over and the signs have been removed.

But it lives on.  Here’s the YouTube link.

PS.  The one remaining musical road in the US that I am aware of is on South Donahue Drive in Auburn, Alabama, and plays “War Eagle,” the fight song of the Tigers of Auburn University.