This thread reminds me of my time in community college jazz band. I had just started playing guitar about a year or 2 earlier, so I didn't yet know a lot about chords. I knew the differences between a minor/major/dom 7, for example, but I didn't know "typical" chord voicings for chords like 6/9, maj11, b5, etc. So I would take my limited knowledge of music theory, and try to "construct" my own chords, trying to cram the root, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 13th, whatever,
all into the chord.
The band director stopped us once and asked me to play a certain chord, and he almost laughed at what I had come up with. He told me, You've got the bass guitar and piano also helping, so I didn't have to have every note in every chord!
He also told me it was fine to invert the root, or not even play it at all, but instead just get the other notes. I asked him, How do I know what is ok to
not play, and/or how to voice a particular chord? He was like, That's when you just gotta use your ear, and play a voicing that works within the context. He said it would be good for me to learn all sorts of various chord forms, so I'd have a pallette to choose from when deciding what to play.
That was about the time I decided Led Zeppelin was easier!