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Only one tune I know of starts with the first five notes ascending straight up the D scale…Spotted Pony. Which makes it one of those tunes that’s almost immediately recognizable after it’s kicked off. It also makes for a great first tune to learn in “double D” tuning.

And it’s one of my favorite kind of tunes – relatively simple to play, but sounds great. I imagine this is largely why it’s become such a favorite at old-time jams. I’ve classified it here as Brainjo level 3, but that’s only on account of the very occasional drop thumb.

Who knew the D scale could sound so good?

Spotted Pony

aDADE tuning, Brainjo level 3