terrible kill options but they do loads of dmg <| sep |> Full barre chords are too much . They take up a lot of sonic space and just duplicate notes in various octaves . What you need to know is that jazz chords only NEED three notes to function properly the root , the third , and the seventh and the flat five for diminished or half diminished chords . The fifth is the same for all nondiminished forms and gives no harmonic information , so you can leave it out . The root is important , but it ' s usually covered by the bass player , so you can leave it out . The ninth , eleventh , and thirteenth just add color to the chord , but can safely be left out plus , the piano player is usually covering those . I ' d learn the three note voicings for major , dominant , minor , and halfdiminshed with roots on the fifth and six strings . Personally I prefer playing these finger style because I don ' t have to worry about muting so much . Also , theory wise you should learn some common progressions like 12 bar blues , rhythm changes , and majorminor ii V I cadences . Learn to hear them and follow along with them .