rofl. <3
Start by holding D almost all the time when doing stuff.
When you become more advanced, you'll recognize when you can activate/deactivate in combos to save meter, but that's not important yet.
Also, during 5B>6B, or 5C, 623C, or allegretto, etc, you can buffer nirvana movements.
Carl has a lot of moves where directions can be buffered and it won't matter.
If you're looking for a place to start, I'd recommend getting summon bnb down. Full combo depends on starter, but just make sure you can get what I bold.
Typical 2A bnb:
2A > 2B > 3C[D] > 22]D[ > IAD j.2C~214C[D] > j.B > j.C~8]D[ > 8D hits > ([D]j.2C~2]D[ > j.C > 2D hits) x2 > [D]j.2C~2D > j.B > 2D hits > [D]j.2C > Allegretto ~ 8]D[
[D] is hold D.
]D[ is release D.
These will be omitted from a lot of combos you'll find, as most of us here are familiar with activation points.
3C > summon is staple for Carl's game. Learn it.