TOPIC: Chord structure vs Chord Progression

Ok - major chord is built on the first, third and fifth note of the chord’s major scale and the minor is achieved by modifying the major chord with a flatted third.
Last night in class we played Django's Minor Swing - and this is based on chord progression - correct? Chord progression in a song is different than chord structure or are they related? I followed the process for a while - then I got dazed and confused.

I know your right on flattening the 3rd of what I guess would be a major chord position, but that could also be wrong advise. I'm a totally confused wanta be banjo player. Hopefully fretmentor intercedes. What my post is about is that since I've been doing physical therapy for my recent shoulder surgery, I have to do a thing they call the finger ladder with my left hand. They complained it took me longer than it should, but besides being a slow learner, I showed them my left hand technic. I was using it like playing the banjo chords I knew. Lo and behold I developed some strenth in my fingers that improved my playing. My wife noticed I was doing somthing better, even though my arm wasn't working quite right. God created amazing bodies to play amazing instruments.

Okay, I'm answering part of my question - I found the Circle of Fifths and that explains the concept of chord progression - and I'm guessing if I understood the circle it would explain the progression Dm, G#m and A7 then G#m A7 Dm - but I can't see how the circle explains that. The exercise in class involved playing the root note - am I correct? If so, I can see why we played D G A.. but then my brain redlined and the rest of what we did was a blur.

Do confused ramblings (this being the posterboy) count as posts?

Ramblings definitely count.
And remember the wandering mind can never have too far to go.

Let me see if I can get this right because I get confused too. Chord structure is based on the 1st, 3rd and 5th note of the major scale, G, A, B …… A flatted 3rd creates a minor chord in a minor scale.
The chord progression is the combination of chords used to make up a song, typically a 1, 4, 5 chord progression makes for a nice sounding tune. Those chords work well together. These can be found using the circle of 5th ; G, C, D I have to keep it real simple or I get all jammed up.

The makeup of a major chord is the 1, 3, and 5 notes of the major scale, as you say.

The common chord progression for most bluegrass music consists of the chords for the first, 4th, and fifth notes of the key the song is written in, the 1-4-5.

So, for the key of G, a G major chord would be the NOTES G, B, D. For a song in the key of G, the primary CHORDS would be G, C, D in major form. Songs in G will often contain other chords beside the 1-4-5, but they will USUALLY (but not always) be minor, so a song in G may also contain the Am, Bm, and Em chords as well. And sometimes a flatted 7th (F), but that's another story altogether...