This clip from The Sound of Maj/min. Modes- 4 Lydian begins with A QUICK LOOK at Advanced Electric SlapBass 11. All the techniques from 20 different Adv. Slap Bass videos begin coming together in a way that ties all the techniques to one common trajectory; what you're trying to say, or what Tony calls the "effective musical statement".
"Like a word in a sentence, a sentence in a paragraph, paragraphs to pages, pages to chapters, and chapters to a book, we all search for the effectiveness of a musical statement. Songs, solos, lyrics, drum grooves, bass-lines, etcetera. Now purely in a song context, we have to look at the vision of the whole production, as the immediate statement. That's much harder. It's as if each 'word' we say instantly becomes a single but entire page. But as individual musicians our search for the most effective musical vocabulary is to play want we really want to say, or the most affective musical statement."
"It's easy to get stuck practicing scales, rudiments, patterns, we all do it. But think about it, if you practiced your 'ABC's' all the time, do you think you would be able to write or speak better? Maybe, but not close to as much as reading great books, or hearing effective speakers. The trick is to know the tool, have it be absorbed as instinct. Any good writer has to use the alphabet constantly, but studying it won't help his writing any longer.
The word 'rudimentary' means just that. Like Sherlock says to Watson, 'elementary my dear Watson', as if to say, 'your still on the principals of the rudimentary?? Sigh.. Oh Watson...." [laughs]
From Tony's Riƒƒ Library and WeShare™ , here is a clip from "The Maj/Min Mode Sounds". This, one of many modal riffs, is played on his fretless bass.
