I know there is a lot of material on this topic interspersed throughout the BB coursework, but I’m wondering what’s a good way for an advanced intermediate player to use the lessons to focus on this part of my playing. Also, any general tips on the topic are appreciated. Thanks.
Improvisation
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I am not a great improv person, but in that arena I have gotten the most mileage out of things that are baby steps to improv. For example, I like the bag of licks lessons as a building block for making an improvised solo. Basically get some licks in your head/ears/fingers, then go pick out a melody and work those licks into it. If you want to go one level deeper, I’d say the minor pentatonic scale is a good next step. One can construct licks on the fly with some nice safety rails built in (although I think most of what I see there is often just a pre-learned lick, much like the bag of licks approach).
Again, it is not a strong suite for me, but if I really wanted to focus on it some more, I think I’d spend a great deal of time just picking out fundamental melodies with recordings. This is the first part of the build-a-break series, and I think it is the step most people want to skip. Before I would worry about adding embellishments, I’d get better at translating what I hear to what I play. Start with tunes that are familiar to your ear and migrate to learning to pick up an unfamiliar melody quickly when hearing it for the first time. I play with a few friends that are all improvisation/all the time, and that seems to be what they did primarily. Now they play melodies with lots of nice connecting phrases and variations. They “hear” something and they play it.
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Hey @Timmy! Have you watched the jamming series?
Jamming in A: https://banjobenclark.com/lessons/jamming-in-a-mandolin-beginner
Jamming in G: https://banjobenclark.com/lessons/jamming-in-g-mandolin-beginner
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One last thought… on mandolin since the strings are tuned at equal intervals, it has a great advantage. It really lends itself to being able to move things around the instrument. In that regard, (in my opinion, and I could argue against this as well) I’d focus on doing as much closed position (all notes fretted/no open string usage) as possible. That will be a hamper to what you can play now, but it will maximize how much reuse you will get out of everything you learn. I hope that makes sense.
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Oh yeah, and I’d suggest the jamming lessons 
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Thanks guys. Ben, I’ve wondered if a Cabin Camp built around a theme like improvisation would be a successful. Have you thought about that? I suppose it might be too narrow to attract the number of attendees you need to make it profitable. I know that I’d be interested.
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I have thought about that and I think it would be popular for sure, may give it a try in 2023! I spend quite a bit of time on it at current camps. Folks are surprised that we don’t use the tab once they get to camp.
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Well I may trek down from Maine for that.
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