The Strumstick was designed by Bob McNally. The Strumstick uses a diatonic scale fretting (the notes of a major scale). We call that "No Wrong Notes", because they all sound good together. The strings are tuned in a drone relationship (octaves and fifth). The mountain dulcimer, bagpipes, and Indian sitar are other instruments from around the world that use a drone tuning. The combination of diatonic scale and drone tuning make the strumstick immediately fun, and very easy to play, even for beginners.