Modes on Mandolin: Improving Your Improvisation is a collection of exercises for the mandolin student to work through to better understand the fretboard and expand their musicality. The collection includes scales, modes, arpeggios, patterns, intervalic and rhythmic exercises, and progressions. It will serve as a valuable resource and a supplement to, but not a substitute for, a good teacher. You do not need to follow the chapters in order, as all of them will help you play and improvise over progressions. The exercises are tools to help you build muscle memory and musical ideas anywhere on the fretboard. Connect the physical with the theoretical. There are examples of common tune chord progressions with ideas applied to them. By creating your own musical ideas over the same progressions, you will find that the practical information given (exercises) turns into functional use (playing and improvising). Once you gain a better understanding of the fretboard, you will notice more fluidity and creativity in your playing.

 Introduction
Foreword
Keys – Circle of 5ths
Major Scale
Modes
Diatonic 7th Chords
Tremolo and Pick Direction
Exploring Possibilities
Credits
Modes
Modes 2 Octaves, Start with 1st Finger
Modes 2 Octaves - Up One/ Down the Next, Start with 1st Finger
Modes 1 Octave, Start with 3rd Finger
Modes 1 Octave – Up One/ Down the Next, Start with 3rd Finger
Modes 1 Octave, Start with 4th Finger
Modes 1 Octave – Up One/ Down the Next, Start with 4th Finger
Modes on 2 Strings, Start with 1st Finger
Modes – 6th Interval with Variations
Modes – 7th Interval with Variations
Modes – Octave Exercise in 1 Position
Vertical Modes - 1st Finger Shift
Vertical Modes - 3 and 2 Octaves
Rhythmic Variations for Modes
Interval Combination Exercise
1-6-2-5 Progression with Modes in Position
Arpeggios
Vertical Diatonic 7th Chord Arpeggios, 2 Octaves, Start with 1st Finger
Vertical Diatonic 7th Chord Arpeggios, 2 Octaves, Start with 3rd Finger
3 Octave Arpeggios
7th Arpeggios Circle of 5ths
2-5-1 Progression with Arpeggios
Tunes
Lonesome Violin
Leaves
Salt Water
Parker Blues
Blues in Bf