As the OP I thank you for all these comments. It added a lot more to the subject than I intended or anticipated. My personal takeaway is that bpm by itself may not a very good measure of mandolin proficiency, simply because there can be a big difference in how a tune at 120 bpm is played. I can accompany the British March above because there are plenty of quarter notes in the melody. So I can play at 120 bpm. But Ben’s lesson on a tune like Cherokee Shuffle at his teaching speed (which is less than 120 bpm) I struggle with because it’s mostly non-stop eighth notes (apart from the technical challenges he introduces). So I can’t play at 120 bpm! Does that make sense?
What is the typical bpm for slow, moderate and fast bluegrass tempos?
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Exactly. Thank you. And you’re looking to gage the technical difficulty of a piece or the competence of a player (strictly terms of how fast one needs to/is able to play) NOTES per minute is a much better measure.
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Have you tried playing along with the TAB Tef Files & TefView - You can slow / speed up the playback tempo to match your skill level. It’s the way I practice before attempting to play along with the mp3 tracks.
I’d also add that Cherokee Shuffle is a tough tune to play even on the banjo.
I do. It’s very helpful. Ben plays many of his intermediate and advanced lessons at about 105 bpm, which for him is probably a moderate teaching tempo. The closest I can ever get on the mandolin is 95 bpm. I just can’t breakthrough that wall.
In that case, it would be 360 bpm! As you strike 6 notes in a measure!
So it is interesting with Irish Washerwoman in 6/8 timing. 
120 bpm - if I use Archie’s march to the drum beat.
180 bpm - if I consider a beat to be only down strokes (i.e. down and up together as one.)
60 bpm - if I set it up in metronome for the tempo.
360 bpm - If you count every note like Shaky says (Piano players express the speed like that??).
The time signature is the only thing that defines what a beat is.
Pick direction does not define the beat, but the beat can define pick direction if you choose.
How you set a metronome is purely your personal preference and doesn’t affect the time signature.
Notes per minute 
Which note? The long ones, short ones, dotted ones, or the ones that are rests?
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@Fiddle_wood, so how many beats are there in a 6/8 signature - 3 or 6? Again, it appears if a drummer uses the same song (Irish Washerwoman) in a march past, he might use a 2/4 signature??
All notes! lol. Counting it as 6 notes in the measure from 2 triplets. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuMDjNQrdjY
Per this music theory video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxynOZ_vt6U, 3/4 (i.e. in simple time signature) is 3 beats per measure and 6/8 (i.e. in a comound time signature) is 2 beats per measure. By this, the IrishWasherwoman is 120 bpm. So then bpm is not a measure to indicate the speed with which a player has to play an instrument like guitar?? I give up. 
Time signatures can seem confusing. Especially when you go outside the box 4/4 or 3/4.
Lets try and simplify this.
Q. What does 4/4 & 3/4 have in common?
A. The number 4 at the bottom of the fraction - Both time signatures employ a Quarter Note to determine a passage of time. i.e. Quarter Note Beats The TOP Number 3 & 4 tells you how many.
Q. What is different between 6/8 and what we have learned from 4/4 & 3/4 above?
A. The number on the bottom. It’s 8 and NOT 4 - That is because it’s a different measurement of time. These are Eighth Note Beats and there are 6 of these in the measure.