Music for Your Head : Rockers Tune In on Reports Mozart Hikes IQs

SHERMAN OAKS — Uh, Mozart is cool.

A day after researchers reported that the tunes of Wolfgang Amadeus can help raise IQ scores, those in the know on Friday acknowledged a mini rush from consumers in search of Eine Kleine Brainmusick.

Not to suggest that the 18th-Century composer’s Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major threatens to replace Blind Melon among those who might think allegro non troppo is a pasta.

“I sold four yesterday,” said Dave Zimmerman, assistant manager of the classical music section at Tower Records in Sherman Oaks. “We usually sell about four a month.”

From metal heads to urban cowboys, music lovers reacted with no surprise to a recent study that suggests classical music may actually help them up Abraham Maslow’s steps to self-actualization--which has nothing to do with Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven,” dude.

“I heard plants like it, so it can’t be bad for you,” said Glen Drieth, 24, of Canoga Park. Drieth, who works at Guitar Center in Sherman Oaks, said he prefers Bach and Chopin to Mozart, but conceded he will listen to almost anything when the mood strikes.

“Then I’ll throw on a Slayer album and it’s all over,” he said.

What has people talking is a recent study in which college students were given IQ tests after listening to 10 minutes of the Mozart sonata, a recorded relaxation tape or meditating in silence.

Each student was tested after each session and-- schwing! --everyone scored higher after listening to the Mozart.

Leroy Lemke, 27, of Hermosa Beach, heard the news on Howard Stern.

“I’ve always believed it,” he said, strumming an Ovation bubble-back acoustic guitar. “Music is very spiritual--almost religious.”

Indeed, there is an almost holy air in the classical music section at Tower Records. Inside the sealed room is all strings and solitude. Outside is all amp and attitude.

Stocking shelves quietly in the empty room, Zimmerman said that although Thursday was a busy day for Mozart, Friday was slower. “They’re probably recovering from last night’s brainstorm,” he said.

“I’ve been listening to the stuff for 30 years and it hasn’t made much of a difference,” he said, adding with a nod toward the popular section: “It’s got to be better than what those guys are listening to.”

One of those guys, J.R. Dew, 20, of Reseda, was looking for a most worthy use for his new-found knowledge. “I’d be willing to try it out,” the CSUN business student said. “Maybe I should listen to it before I take my midterms.”

Thing is, the results are as short-lived as they are excellent.

And the one bummer is that researchers also suggested that the simpler rhythms in much of today’s music can actually interfere with abstract reasoning.

“Really?” asked Cinnamon Cates, 25, of Valencia, as she looked at her Trisha Yearwood CD. “Maybe that’s my problem.”