Xaphoon Fingering Instructions
The Xaphoon has a total of 9 holes; five for the left hand and four for the right hand. The holes are numbered 1 through 9, with hole 1 being closest to the reed, and hole 2 being under the left thumb. Hole 9 goes beneath the right pinky. Notice that holes 4 and 5 are twisted slightly so they are where your fourth and pinky fingers naturally fall.
Normally the lowest note, low C, is the most difficult note for most beginners to get on the first try. However, for the purpose of this fingering chart, it is assumed that you can blow any note on command.
Start with the lowest note: Close all of the holes and blow. This is the low C and will be represented with this notation: 123456789. The next note in the scale is a D, which you can get by lifting the right pinky, thereby opening hole 9. The notation for this note is 12345678-. So for this notation, a closed hole is represented by its number, and an open hole is represented by a -. Half-holing is only used for two notes in the entire 2-octave scale, and it is represented as a |.
So let's start with notation for a C scale.
C123456789
D12345678-
E1234567--
F123456---
G12345----
A1234-----
B12-45----
C12-------
Notice the one surprise in this sequence was the B; it was created using a technique called Cross Fingering. Had you just opened the next hole in the sequence, 123------, you would have gotten a B-flat. To sharpen a note, you open the hole you wish to sharpen and then close the two holes beneath it. So, to go from B-flat to B-natural, you go from 123------ to 12-45----. Similarly, to go from F to F-sharp, you go from 123456--- to 12345-78-.
The first octave and a half, then, including all sharps and flats, looks like this:
C123456789
C-sharp12345678|
D12345678-
D-sharp1234567-9
E1234567--
F123456---
F-sharp12345-78-
G12345----
G-sharp1234-67--
A234-----
A-sharp123------
B12-45----
C12-------
C-sharp1-345----
D1--------
D-sharp-2345----
E-2-------
F---------
That was the first octave and a half. This range will accommodate 99.9% of all popular songs.
To get the rest of the Xaphoon's 2-octave scale, you have to employ something called the upper register - it is a mouth position where the reed vibrates twice as fast as it does when playing other notes. Most people get the upper register quite accidentally when they try to get their first sounds out of the Xaphoon. To get the 2nd register intentionally, put the mouthpiece into your mouth a little more and increase lip pressure on the reed a little more.
The fingering for the higher register notes is below:
F-sharp-23456789 (apply less lip pressure on this note)
G-23456789
G-sharp-2345678|
A-2345678-
A-sharp1234567--
B123456---