Until the middle of the eighteenth century, the organ and the harpsichord were the two principal faces of a generic ‘keyboard’ repertory that was often played without discrimination on a number of instruments, which might also include the clavichord, the spinet and the virginal. Professional musicians trained on both instruments with the aim of acquiring not only a solo or concertante technique, but also proficiency in performing basso continuo and the rudiments of improvisation and composition.