Just read your other post. Maybe I went a bit over the top here..
Like he said, If there is anything you don't understand try looking it up in the documentation. Also doing the included Instant Maya tutorials could be a good idea. Then read a lot of tutorials on the web and buy a few good books if you can.

I think that Character setup is really not that intuitive at first! What i mean is that learning by trial and error is maybe not the best way to learn this specific topic when you are starting out! So learn the tools and concepts the "right way" if you can and then get mere "Intuitive" and experimantal when you have the logic of it all closer to heart.

Just my humble advise.

Ps. Reading lot's of threads can also be very educating and inspiring. Try the maya rigging forum on www.cgtalk.com. (Some of that stuff is rocket science though - but us mortals might grasp some of it further down the road ) Also there is a section on Set Driven Keys on one of the Maya vtm's for free download at www.3dbuzz.com