Best Music Bookstores In San Francisco Near Me

4worldlovers: Each month, we select a brand new book that we love so much that we guarantee you'll love it too.

For this month we have chosen "After Sappho" by Selby Wynn Schwartz.

A luminous interweaving of biographical vignettes, limning the lives of a cadre of remarkable women.

4worldlovers: No matter your musical style or preference, we can help you explore your passion for music at Guitar Center San Francisco. It’s not just about wanting to play music; it’s about finding the right instrument, equipment and accessories to truly help bring your dream to life. From picking out your first guitar to finding the right lighting or sound equipment for your next live gig, we’re here to help you make the music you want to. There’s something for every music lover at Guitar Center San Francisco. Let us help you find exactly what you need to get the show going.

Guitar Center San Francisco caters to the needs of all musicians. Our local music store carries top brands, such as Fender, Taylor, Shure, Zildjian, Pioneer DJ, Gibson, Alesis, DW, Yamaha and more. Whether you’re looking for the perfect guitar to shred on, want a new drum set, or are ready to kick up the sound with a louder amp, with our wide selection of new, used and vintage instruments, any artist can find exactly what they need to start their next musical journey.

After you’ve got your instrument, you can kick things up a notch with the right add-ons and accessories. If you’re ready to record your demo, our San Francisco music shop sells professional recording equipment, including mixers, software and microphones. For anyone needing gear for a live show, our live sound department includes PA systems, loudspeakers, PA monitors, subwoofers, headphones and more. Stop by Guitar Center San Francisco today to experience and hear our products first-hand.

Our local music shop in San Francisco offers a variety of services to help musicians achieve their goals when it comes to making music. Learn how to play an instrument with expert lessons, available for all ages and skill levels. Our instructors teach guitar, bass, piano, drums and more. Learning to play is just the beginning. We also provide repairs, maintenance and modification services to ensure that your instrument stays in peak playing condition. Ready to play a show or record a song? Guitar Center San Francisco has an assortment of high-quality live sound gear and instruments available for rent for when you’re traveling, have an upcoming show or are working on a new project. Contact Guitar Center San Francisco to learn more about our repair and maintenance services, to schedule your first lesson, or get the gear rentals you need.

4worldlovers: Robert Glasper delivers another career-high album with Black Radio III . The talented pianist conjures up multi-faceted moods, with a sense of yearning and hope emerging from his assured, elegant keys. Glasper's brought some heavy hitters to the proceedings, too, with Killer Mike, Big K.R.I.T., and BJ the Chicago Kid appearing on the brilliant "Black Superhero." H.E.R. and Meshell Ndegeocello appear on the addictive, achingly beautiful "Better Than I Imagined." Elsewhere on the album, Q-Tip, Common, Ty Dolla Sign, Esperanza Spalding, Jennifer Hudson, Yebba, and Ant Clemons make excellent contributions. Black Radio III is straight up fantastic and will probably land on many year end "best of" lists.

With the release of The Waeve's eponymous self-titled debut, Blur guitarist Graham Coxon and erstwhile Pipettes vocalist Rose Elinor Dougall have created one of the freshest, most interesting albums in a long time. The pair combines elements of shoegaze, psychedelia, post-punk and dark folk to create a lush, unpredictable, emotionally gripping set of songs. Both Coxon and Dougall contribute vocals, lending a unique timbre to each track. Coxon performs on saxophone as well as on the lute. It's an early contender, but this might be one of the year's best. Don't sleep on it!

Bryan Adams’ new album finds him celebrating freedom (the title track) and long-time romance (the gentle “Always Have, Always Will” and the old-school rocker “I Ain’t Worth Shit Without You”). Elsewhere inspiration came from other projects: The jangly, upbeat “I’ve Been Looking For You” was written for “ Pretty Woman: The Musical and one of the album’s most stirring tracks, “These Are The Moments That Make Up My Life,” was originally for the film Marley & Me . The deluxe 2CD includes a second disc of the beloved singer/songwriter’s hits.

Allison Russell’s Outside Child is so assured it’s hard to believe this is the Montreal singer-songwriter’s debut album. Russell fuses Americana, blues, and soul to create a sometimes haunting, sometimes joyful sound uniquely her own. In this way, the melodies mirror her lyrical concerns as well as the overarching themes of the album—namely transcendence, healing, and hope, all springing from a place of deep-rooted trauma. Powerful, moving, and devastatingly beautiful, Outside Child marks Allison Russell as one to watch.

Has it really been almost a decade since the last Yeah Yeah Yeahs album? You’d never know it from their effortlessly cool latest, Cool It Down . The album opens with “Spitting Off the Edge of the World,” a majestic, moving ballad where Karen O’s vocals intertwine with those of guest vocalist Perfume Genius to create a truly epic track that sounds like the theme to a classic ‘80s fantasy. Mid-way through the album “Burning” lives up to its name, with searing guitars, yearning piano, and a chorus that should serve as the anthem for your most regrettable/enjoyable toxic love affair. There’s bound to be a lot of hype about this album and fans should be happy to know Cool It Down lives up to the buzz.

IDLES are back with a visceral new album, Crawler . This relentless album takes all the down-and-dirty elements of IDLES that brought the British post-punk act acclaim and refines their raucous approach into knife-sharp lyrics and gritty noise. The melodies on their fourth album are as intense and abrasive as ever, yet they’re tempered by introspection and the urge to evolve. Urgent and inventive, Crawler shows the band reassessing and reworking what makes them tick.

On Raven , Kelela proves once again she’s one of the most exciting artists working in the alternative R&B space. The tracks on Raven sound like a sort of rebirth; the emotions are intense, the compositions innovative and exhilarating. There’s no predictability here and Kelela has her listeners on the edge of their seats the entire time as shimmering and ethereal textural tracks segue into drum ’n’ bass ballads and electronic washes of sound shift into dancehall grooves. Raven is impressive. If you dug what Kelela was doing before, these new tracks are on a whole other level.

4worldlovers: Currently Alexander's hours are Monday - Friday from 10am to 5pm.

We certainly wish for everyone to stay healthy, and we will do our best to keep the store clean and safe.

All this said, we have a store full of books awaiting your visit!

YOU CAN ALWAYS CHECK ON-HAND AVAILABILITY THROUGH OUR WEBSITE, BUT IF QUANTITIES ARE LOW IT IS ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA TO CALL TO CONFIRM.