I will be making these tajweed lessons as simple as possible, inshaaAllah. I know how difficult and confusing learning tajweed can get. All the articulation points, vowels, lengthening, rules etc. that we have take in to our already busy brains can cause one to go into hiding and avoid learning it altogether.
Although, you may learn a vast amount from my teachings (inshaaAllah) it is still quite important that you seek a teacher whom you are able to hear saying the letters with their correct makhaarij (pronunciation).
The definition of tajweed is: articulating every letter from its articulation point and giving the letter its rights and dues of characteristics. In much simpler words, saying the letters of the Quran correctly and applying the rules that come with them.
There are 28 Arabic letters - we refer to the hamza and alif as one letter.
Vowels in Arabic
In the Arabic language we use symbols for vowels.
(Some asian people refer to fatha as zubr, kasra as zeer and dhammah as peesh, but I think we will efface them out of our minds and start using the Arabic terminology - agree? 
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Fatha
When saying a 'fatha' letter you make an 'upward' sound, you have a sort of narrow smile on your face. Like this: NOT like this: 
NOT like this: 
The Arabic alphabet
Above I explained that 'fatha' letters are said with a narrow smile, well, there is an exception (bet you're thinking, 'now is the time to run' - LOL)...
Some Arabic letters are known as heavy letters. There are 8 heavy letters:
These letters are said by narrowing your mouth and making an oval shape, something like this: 
. Be aware, even though the shape of your mouth has altered slightly, that doesn't mean that the 'upwaard' fatha sound is changed. (I hope im making sense)
. Be aware, even though the shape of your mouth has altered slightly, that doesn't mean that the 'upwaard' fatha sound is changed. (I hope im making sense)As you may have noticed - if you're paying attention, that is (beware I have a danda (stick) beside me) the letter 'ra' has the vowels 'fatha' and 'dhammah' on it. That is because the letter 'ra' is not always read with a heavy tone. If it has a kasra under it, it will be read lightly, and THAT is something we will discuss later...
Okay, now off you go in front of a mirror and start practising these letters, remember some are 'smiley' and some are 'angry' letters. I would also advice that you go onto YouTube and listen to the pronunciation of these heavy and light letters but please just stick with the vowel 'fatha' until you feel you're ready to move onto the other vowels.
(Gosh this was harder than I comprehended... )
Love and learn.
. It went from being a clutter filled, claustrophobic, colour clashing abode to a soothing sanctuary. Oh and it wasn't easy to bring about that change; I scrubbed and painted and waltzed with the paint brush.. moved furniture, cried, painted a little more then cried again- haha! but alhamdulilah, got through it and I would definitely do it again, sometime soon (maybe in 30 years time)!
