Piano Basic Training was written for Steven Drury as a tribute to Margaret Ott, a wonderful pianist and teacher from Spokane, Washington. From the opening, marked "blunt and "raw", onwards, the one movement piece traces, in a non-linear fashion, the evolution of a pianist from mere noise producer, through a number of pianistic styles and textures, to a level of musical intimacy and pianistic sophistication characteristic of the great 20th-century piano literature. Basic Training is challenging repertoire and an ideal work for a budding virtuoso.