Managing Final Cut Express

Considering last year I used iMovie to generate my music video - using Final Cut Express is new to me in this respect. I've understood the basics of Final Cut Express such as rendering a clip, converting a track and clips and locking certain parts of footage to avoid accidental editing.
However, editing the speed, filtering the image, applying a diversity of transitions to a clip and fading out audio are all things that I had difficulty operating.
There were 3 things I could do to accomplish this;
1. I could ask others around me, or seek assistance from an experienced user of Final Cut Express, such as a mature student or teacher.
2. I could attempt to practice each area and hope that I adapt to the complex techniques.
3. Seek tutorials online, and search tips, instructions from thousands of other users of Final Cut Express.

In fact, I attempted all of these.
All were helpful, but the most beneficial was the YouTube tutorials online. I learnt how to do these things and even more; I was exposed to effective editing techniques and how to apply them to my footage.
Here is an example of one on the YouTube tutorials that I had watched an taken notes on:

first day of editing

This year I've decided to take a leap at editing footage on my own as I crave creative freedom and an independent approach. I have had previous experience with Final Cut Express in group, and are therefore familiar with many of its features.
I have drawn up editing plans and have a rough visual of what I want the final outcome of the footage to be. I've taken into account that editing a whole music video by myself requires a lot of time and dedication, in of which to edit to its full standard. Therefore, I have arranged after school sessions that I can edit in.

Editing narration