Excellent, I think, free Mandolin lesson by Matt Flinner

I've been trying to learn the mandolin for the last 8 months and have found it surprisingly difficult - I'm getting there though. This is a free hour and half sample online lesson from Matt Flinner, who has a very good pedigree. I found this excellent and thought I'd share it. He starts with hand position exercises and moves on to a fiddle tune, and then improvisation. What I found helpful is that this is one of the few resources I've found where the instructor demonstrates the whole process and where the theory fits in: some exercises to get your posture and hands correct, a 'simple' tune, and then how to improvise on the tune using chord tones, modified scales (so they don't sound 'scaley'), and double stops. It helped me see where all these elements 'fit'.

I don't think I've found it helpful simply because of my level. He caters for all levels from beginner to advanced (an emphasis on relaxation and volume).
More importantly , for me, he second guesses the questions you may have when learning this material.
Here's the link - hope it helps anyone else who has started on this difficult (for me anyway) path.