SF bay area schools?

b_ryceeeee · #1 05-12-2011, 07:55 PM

Hey guys, i'm going to be moving out to San francisco in the end of july and was wondering, is there are any colleges with a good music program any of you could recommend? Would be even better if there was one with a bass program in it also.

dhsierra1 · #2 05-12-2011, 08:05 PM

San Jose State and SF State have long-standing excellent programs w/4 year degrees as well as Masters progs. Jazz and classical are strong points for both, though SJSU has a long-standing excellent electronic music program, too, if that's of interest.

SF Conservatory has a very good reputation, Rob Wasserman is an alumnus IIRC.

If you're looking for 2 year programs I can recommend Foothill College (Los Altos Hills) and Cabrillo (Aptos, "over the hill" in the Santa Cruz area). I understand West Valley in Saratoga has a good program as well.

Those are all the strongest programs I personally know of, having either attended them or working w/people who went to those.

Just be prepared for high cost of living including high rents anywhere you go around here

b_ryceeeee · #3 05-12-2011, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dhsierra1

San Jose State and SF State have long-standing excellent programs w/4 year degrees as well as Masters progs. Jazz and classical are strong points for both, though SJSU has a long-standing excellent electronic music program, too, if that's of interest.

SF Conservatory has a very good reputation, Rob Wasserman is an alumnus IIRC.

If you're looking for 2 year programs I can recommend Foothill College (Los Altos Hills) and Cabrillo (Aptos, "over the hill" in the Santa Cruz area). I understand West Valley in Saratoga has a good program as well.

Those are all the strongest programs I personally know of, having either attended them or working w/people who went to those.

Just be prepared for high cost of living including high rents anywhere you go around here

I already have a place where i'll be paying 400 a month. i think the street name is Geary? Kind of lucked out as it's my friends spot. checked it out in october because my girl is going to be going to the academy of arts university for 2-3 years. So i figure i do some more digging in on the subject here.

dhsierra1 · #4 05-12-2011, 09:46 PM

Geary's the main east-west drag so you'll be able to hop around reasonably well around town. Not that SF is big, it's basically 7 miles by 7 miles. If you're there I'd look into either SFSU or SF Conservatory and save yourself hellish commutes down the peninsula. Alas, we do not possess the wonderful mass transit systems of the Eastern Seaboard cities. But we make pretty good wine and beer

UncleFluffy · #5 05-12-2011, 09:57 PM

I used to live just off of Geary. It's a great location for living in SF - congrats.

Golden Gate park is four blocks south, there's a lot of good restaurants (cheap and not-so-cheap) nearby and the 38 bus will take you downtown (and back) 24 hours a day. Best bookshop in the city (Green Apple) is one block north on Clement Street, which has a lot of affordable food shopping and one of the best and friendliest dive bars on the west side of town (540 Club).

Wrong side of town for fast access to BART or Caltrain so I wouldn't count on public transport to get you in and out of the city fast, you'll have to add a 30 minute bus ride on each end. So +1 to dhsierra1's advice to look at schools in SF itself.

b_ryceeeee · #6 05-12-2011, 10:03 PM

yeah thanks guys, two of my friends have been living on geary for 3 or 4 years now. when we checked out the spot i felt geary was cool because it seemed like a safe place and kind of away from the madness. haha. and the bus was pretty easy to commute around there. seemed like it came every 5 or 10 minutes! how far out is sfsu from there?

UncleFluffy · #7 05-12-2011, 11:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by b_ryceeeee

yeah thanks guys, two of my friends have been living on geary for 3 or 4 years now. when we checked out the spot i felt geary was cool because it seemed like a safe place and kind of away from the madness. haha.

Yeah, away from the madness but just a quick bus ride in to get to the madness when you want it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by b_ryceeeee

and the bus was pretty easy to commute around there. seemed like it came every 5 or 10 minutes! how far out is sfsu from there?

You're probably looking at the 28 bus down 19th Ave or the 29 down Sunset. If you're close to park presidio it's a 20 minute run.

Bookmark this link: Transit.511.org

edit: Drop me a PM when you know where your exact address is and I can give you more pointers.

b_ryceeeee · #8 05-12-2011, 11:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UncleFluffy

Yeah, away from the madness but just a quick bus ride in to get to the madness when you want it..

That's exactly what i told my friend that where moving in with.
Does SFSU have any bass programs there. I Just wish i knew a lot more people in the area so i could slip in to the music scene a little easier.

**pacojas** · #9 05-12-2011, 11:27 PM

i use to live on Geary!!! easy to launch from to any direction. gl

skwee · #10 05-12-2011, 11:34 PM

I went to SFCM. Great classical music school, and wonderful community of artists, especially chamber musicians. There were only double bassists there when I attended, and there was no jazz happening at the school at all. I did sit in vocals at the Beach Chalet a couple of times with a crew of SF Symphony cats who had a weekly jazz combo there, though.

b_ryceeeee · #11 06-03-2011, 11:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UncleFluffy

Yeah, away from the madness but just a quick bus ride in to get to the madness when you want it.

You're probably looking at the 28 bus down 19th Ave or the 29 down Sunset. If you're close to park presidio it's a 20 minute run.

Bookmark this link: Transit.511.org

edit: Drop me a PM when you know where your exact address is and I can give you more pointers.

7126 Geary blvd is where ill be at!

UncleFluffy · #12 06-03-2011, 11:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by b_ryceeeee

7126 Geary blvd is where ill be at!

ok ... recommendations off the top of my head:

2 blocks south is the Balboa Theater on a block with a few "B+" restaurants

4 blocks south is Golden Gate park

a little north is the Palace of the Legion of Honor, which has some interesting exhibitions and an extremely good, if small, permanent collection.

west you have:

Sutro Heights which is one of the best places on the planet to watch the sun set from,

the cliff house restaurant just below which is OK food in a great location and the perfect place to take visiting parents.

and Ocean Beach, which is colder than you'd like but still great to hang out on

walking east you have:

- Bill's Place on 24th and Clement, my favourite throwback burger joint
- Tommy's on 24th and Geary with good Mexican food and the best tequila selection on planet Earth
- Aziza on 22nd and Geary, good date restaurant
- Tia Margarita's, with OK mexican food and skull-damaging margaritas in a very friendly homey place that hasn't seen a menu change in the last 20 years

and the whole of Clement st from about 14th on is always an interesting walk with bunch of good shops and restaurants

b_ryceeeee · #13 06-03-2011, 11:57 PM

Thanks for the info bro, cant wait to check it out. Also, does anyone have any recommendations on music shops and a good tech?

UncleFluffy · #14 06-04-2011, 12:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by b_ryceeeee

Thanks for the info bro, cant wait to check it out. Also, does anyone have any recommendations on music shops and a good tech?

Only so-so music shops in the city itself. GC is close to as good as you're going to get

There was a thread a bit back discussing the stores a bit further out, it may be worth doing a search and seeing what turns up.

(Found it: How many Bass shops/Luthiers/manufacturers in S.F./Oakland Bay Area)

I do my own tech stuff so can't properly answer the second question, but SF Guitarworks has a very good rep.