Looking for help on constructing a pedal from scratch.

To start I have no basic understanding of electrical engineering, but I really want to start making pedals from scratch. I would like to start with the very basics and just make a distortion or fuzz pedal. I am wondering if there are any online tools to get a good education on how to start with basic electrical engineering. I have watched youtube videos, but most of what I find is just people explaining how to construct a pedal with the pieces. I am a hands on learner. I am looking for the electrical engineering equivalent to something like codecademy for programming. I want a deeper understanding about why the specific parts are important and what they are necessary for. Any help in pointing me to the right direction would be great. Thanks guys!