Fifth peg down

[Joseph Sorah]

While doing research on my current train of thought I have come across several photos with the banjo held left handed and of course upside down. The many examples lead me to wonder if this is no artifact of the photo posing by the photographer , but rather an actual example of the way some people played the instrument. Any thoughts?

[Joel Hooks]

Here are two left handed banjo solos.  I think I have one more by E. M. Hall-- I'll have to look.

These are the only banjo pieces I could document that don't require both hands.

[Joseph Sorah]

This has been an interesting discussion. I believe the next banjo I build might be left handed. It might be a revelation to see the difficulty and techniques one needs to play in that position.