I’m looking for extended sits (3months or more) that have some kind of acoustic or upright piano to practice on. Been going through listings manually but pretty exhausting to find ones. Been reading through forums here too and wondering if people have any additional advice on how to narrow my search or where I should be posting this for home-owners to see?
I’m based in Toronto but open to sitting virtually anywhere in the world, as long as (1) has a decent acoustic piano and (2) is available for an extended stay sometime ** in the coming winter. Thanks!
(Post edited by the Forum team where ** indicated to remove specific dates as per the Community Guidelines)
Have you tried using the beta search on the App ? You can search for “sits with pianos”
I tried it and 20 or so sits came up that had pianos (but none were for long sits) . You could favourite them and you’ll be notified when they next list dates ( which maybe for longer duration next time around )
I think I’d approach this differently. I’d put up posts in various preferred location fb community groups. Word of mouth works very well for niche things…
Try maybe Jersey and Guernsey and Alderney I’ve seen plenty of serious pianos in homes in the Channel Islands. Try locations with music academies nearby London, Paris, Vienna, Salzburg.
Being that there is no filter set up specifically for pianos or musical instruments in general, there really isn’t much you can do about it unless that new beta search can pick up on it. Not sure if it just picks up on the type of info all hosts are asked to enter, like the number of hours pet can be left alone, guests allowed, amenities,etc…or actually reads through all the text of the listing.
But if not, or it is not mentioned, but only perhaps in a photo, the way to really discern this would be seeing the piano in pictures, the hosts mentioning it specifically, or you applying and asking. So manually going through the listings may be your only option–being that sits of this length are only a smaller percentage of the total listings, this does help somewhat.
The forum only contains a fraction of the membership, and while it is possible some may see this topic you started and reach out inviting you to sit, the chances are slim.
You can write whatever you want in your headline–which is the first thing someone would see right under your name–and can put something to this effect, but hosts searching for sitters would only see that if they actually clicked on your profile as the search only shows the name and number of reviews. You could also mention it in your profile somewhere.
I imagine though the chances of someone who happens to have a piano coming across your profile at that particular time they are searching is probably pretty slim, unless they are looking for sitters from the specific area you list on your profile, and there happen to not be a lot of people from there. So again, the chances of connecting with someone in this way is probably nothing to count on, but would really be the only way to share this information with prospective hosts upfront.
@Olyjia Once you find a sit that interests you, search for public places in that area that have pianos available for the public to use. I just searched my hometown (100,000 people) and the local library has a room you can book for free with a piano, as does the university in the neighbouring city. Chances are they are digital, but you may have to make that concession.
I also had a homeowner for a sit who reached out to her Facebook group, asking if anyone would lend them a portable keyboard for a few weeks. When I arrived, as a surprise it was set up and ready for me to use. That from me just asking if by chance they had a piano or keyboard, as I was taking lessons and wanted to practise. Wonderful hosts!
When I used Search Plus and asked for Christmas sits with a dog by the beach, it came back with house sits that were a week away with donkeys, horses, and even elephants. I think the Beta is still far from being a good product, and I would not be 100% certain that the pianos would be in the house.
but on this occasion when I used it to search for “sits with pianos” the majority of the listings did have pianos ( ranging from grand pianos to acoustic to electric …. )
I was able to glean this information just by scanning the photos of the listings that came up in the search results -
I didn’t read the listings at all as I personally am not looking for such a sit . But wanted to try out the Beta search function to see it if would help the OP . On this occasion it produced useful information.
That sounds amazing. I think I’ll wait a few more months until it’s much more usable, and then I’ll give it another go. Until then, I have enough house sits for the time being, and we’ll have one close to Christmas. Anyway, good luck with the pianos. Sounds like fun.
I have found that larger English houses (esp. older ones in the countryside) very often have pianos. I have stayed in many that do, and would suggest it’s more common than not.
In other words, if you scan the photos, looking for larger, older, countryside properties, I think you’ll have quite a good strike rate.
@Silversitters Maybe we’ll see completely new terms invented by the advertising agency for “pet parents” and “sitters” in line with us all looking for our perfect dates
