[mysql] SELECT DISTINCT first letter of a varchar string

[funeralcrasher]

How could I SELECT DISTINCT the first letter of a string stored as a varchar? 

Comments

Re: something like?

[pkbarbiedoll.livejournal.com]

Found it -- thanks!!

MID(str,pos,len) is a synonym for SUBSTRING(str,pos,len).

http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/string-functions.html