# Technique, Theory, Playing Tips and Tricks > Theory, Technique, Tips and Tricks >  Free PDF's of Technical Exercises

## Jim Bevan

In the spirit of helping each other get through this period of increasing downtime and decreasing income, the pdf's at Mando Scales are now free.

(And, if you get a few down enough that you want to give the corresponding videos a go, PM me (or use the site's Contact form) and I'll WeTransfer 'em to you.)

Even if most of what's there doesn't suit your tastes, the _Scales 1st Position_ are the most fun arrangement I've found for running through the major scales in all keys.
 :Mandosmiley: 

A big thank you to Scott for the Cafe, and a heartfelt thanks to everyone here for the camaraderie and support!

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Callum Murray, 

FredK, 

greenoak, 

hgrimmett, 

Iain Allen, 

Jairo Ramos Parra, 

Joe Bartl, 

John Kelly, 

Kevin Winn, 

mandoisland, 

MediumMando5722, 

MikeEdgerton, 

Nevin, 

randybrown, 

Rick Jones, 

robert.najlis, 

Rosemary Philips

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## Isaac Casas

Wow, thanks a lot! I just downloaded the pdfs and I'm sure they'll be of great help. I'm always eager to find technical resources and these look invaluable!

Best,

Isaac

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Jim Bevan

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## sean121

Thanks! That was really thoughtful of you. This pdf has some really solid technical insights and I got to learn something new.

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Jim Bevan

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## mandoisland

Thanks for the free scales!

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Jim Bevan

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## J.C. Bryant

Thank you!  Thank You!!

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Jim Bevan

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## stevemci

When I click on the Add To Cart link the link disappears but nothing appears in my cart. Clicking on the cart icon gives me a message that my cart is empty. What am I doing wrong?




> In the spirit of helping each other get through this period of increasing downtime and decreasing income, the pdf's at Mando Scales are now free.
> 
> (And, if you get a few down enough that you want to give the corresponding videos a go, PM me (or use the site's Contact form) and I'll WeTransfer 'em to you.)
> 
> Even if most of what's there doesn't suit your tastes, the _Scales 1st Position_ are the most fun arrangement I've found for running through the major scales in all keys.
> 
> 
> A big thank you to Scott for the Cafe, and a heartfelt thanks to everyone here for the camaraderie and support!

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## Jim Bevan

Are you using a MacBook?

(That's been happening as well to me, but only on my MacBook – my iPhone works fine, my wife's pc and android phone work fine...)

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## Mike Romkey

This is very generous. Thank you. The PDFs aren't available using a Mac but will download (via email) with an iPhone.

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Jim Bevan

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## Jim Bevan

I'll see if I can get that rectified.

I noticed it about a month ago, and since it was only on my mac (where I'm also logged in to the site), I've been letting it go, wishfully thinking that it was only happening to me. 

 :Redface:

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## Jim Bevan

...and of course, now it's fixed. 
Didn't do anything but discuss it here!   :Whistling: 

Mike, could you please see if it's now working for you, on your mac?

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## gordonjackson83

Thanks for making these PDFs available,  Jim. I thought at first they'd be useful to my students, but now I see they'll be useful to me too!

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Jim Bevan

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## stevemci

It's still happening on my Mac. I tried using Safari, Firefox, Chrome, and Opera with the same results. My Mac is running macOS 10.14.6, if that's at all significant.

Thanks,
Steve McI




> ...and of course, now it's fixed. 
> Didn't do anything but discuss it here!  
> 
> Mike, could you please see if it's now working for you, on your mac?

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Jim Bevan

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## Jim Garber

Jim Bevan: I had the same problem. And I also tried it in Firefox and Chrome.

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Jim Bevan

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## Jim Garber

Works fine from the iPhone. Something possibly with the plug-in you are using?

Thanks, Jim, for making these available.

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## Jim Bevan

You're right, it's happening again.

So, I did the same thing I did last night  updated (without changing anything) the two pages ("The Videos" and "PDF" (I'm ignoring "MP3" for now)), and now it's fixed again. 

I'll try to stay on top of this, check/update frequently, but please allow for time zone differences (like, I'm going to bed soon  :Smile:  ).

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## Mark Gunter

Thanks Jim, I'm looking forward to opening some of these soon.

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Jim Bevan

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## 7michael3

thanks! these will be useful

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Jim Bevan

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## TimB989

Awesome. I scooped up a bunch of them. Thanks!

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## Jim Bevan

> Awesome. I scooped up a bunch of them. Thanks!


The popular MO  753 pdf's downloaded so far!

FYI for the CGDAE folks: three new pdf's (and videos etc) are up, plus _Scales Zigzag 5_ has been overhauled.
(The yield of week in the hospital with what's going around and another week at home in bed   it's time to get my callouses back!) 

A reminder that, if you're ready, the videos (via WeTransfer) can be free for the asking.

Hope this is helping! Stay safe and healthy, everyone.  :Smile:

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## Jim Bevan

I signed a new contract today, I go back to work on Sunday (Sunday to Thursday's the work-week here), so I suppose that the time has come to un-free the pdfs, and pretend that life's returning to normal. Nobody's downloaded any in a while, I guess that everyone interested was able to get what they wanted, but I'll wait a week anyway, to give folks a last chance.

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## robert.najlis

I just saw this and downloaded them. Thank you very much, that was very kind of you!

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## Jim Bevan

Folks are going back to work (even me, and I'm a musician!), the Lockdown PDF Giveaway has concluded, but I'll open up the Student Center (accessible here: Students, with simpler versions of the most basic exercises) for the weekend.
After approximately 1,000 downloads, I think I've learned one fact: you guys don't need TAB! I'll hide that staff in future videos (it's still there, though, 'cuz it controls the moving dots  contact me if you do want a video with TAB, it'll be pretty easy to make).

While you're there, check out the photo on the Theory page, and see if you can figure out what's going on.  :Smile: 

Thanks for all the Thank You's, best of luck to everyone, and as the Queen said, "We will meet again".

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## DougC

And I thought you had nothing to do, over there in Dubai. Ha, ha
Great stuff Jim, keep us 'slackers' posted.

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Jim Bevan

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## Mark Gunter

Thanks for the encouragement to look around the site, Jim, it's a very nice website with some very cool stuff. You have an interesting job!

I appreciate your generosity in providing the downloads, thank you for that. I plan to go deeper into your site's offerings in the future.

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Jim Bevan

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## Sue Rieter

Jim is a heckuva generous guy for offering all this material to fellow mandolinists. Extra kudos for patience, advice, and recommendations (via pm) to a novice player. His student section is great, and his website well worth ongoing visits. 

Thanks again, Jim!  :Mandosmiley: 

Sue

PS. As a windows 7 user, I had to download a third party video player for the mp4's. I chose VLC, an open source player http://www.videolan.org/
Versions are available for many operating systems.

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Jim Bevan

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## SolusAsh

Super awesome stuff mate, great for a... I'm not sure if I'm a beginner or an advanced beginner, but the material is great for people in my skill range!

Only downside for me is I can't read sheet music at all... That's more of a *me* failing than anything else though. I just can't... figure it out. I'm working on it though! I know where G is on the treble staff now! :D

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## Sue Rieter

> Only downside for me is I can't read sheet music at all... That's more of a *me* failing than anything else though. I just can't... figure it out. I'm working on it though! I know where G is on the treble staff now! :D


Back in the dark ages, when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I learned "*E*very *G*ood *B*oy *D*eserves *F*udge" for the lines of the staff. Or "Favour" if you want to go by the title of the Moody Blues record.


Sue

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## Jim Bevan

> Only downside for me is I can't read sheet music at all...


So, just skip the PDF step  :Wink:  they're only there in case you find an exercise hard enough to need getting it under your fingers before tackling the video.

Most of the exercises are simple enough and repetitive enough that you don't need to be able to read anyways. Click on the short audio example (the black triangles in the "What You'll Play" column) and figure it out by ear (or even click on the "Give it a Go" example and look at the moving fretboard dots). If you can play the audio example at the speed of the Give it a Go example, and can transpose up a fourth (eg the audio example's in Am – try playing it in Dm, then Gm), then you're good to go. Keep your eye on the moving fretboard dots just to confirm that you're in the correct position.

The videos are simply backing tracks with _when-needed_ visual info – I doubt that anyone is doing any reading past the second or third page.

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## Sue Rieter

Here I'm getting some help with one of Jim's exercises :Smile:

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Jim Bevan

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