title: how to count rows by first letter?
body: <p>a noob question here! </p>
  
  <p>I wrote this query, but the "group by" is very stupid...
  so, how can I correct this?</p>
  
  <pre><code>SELECT
      COUNT(*) AS total,
      'x' as test
      FROM
  contents
      WHERE name LIKE 'C%'
  GROUP BY
      test
  ORDER BY id ASC
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>different solutions and info about performances are welcome ( maybe using DISTINCT? )</p>
  
  <p>thanks in advance!</p>