Okay. So, I'm confused how chord progressions work. Perhaps not in the way people normally mean though. I was listening to Girl Gone Wild by Madonna and looking at the chords, the progression is listed as being Am Em G F on various sites online. So, I can figure out the rhythm to what I'd perceived as being the first instance of said chords (the sort of synth line that comes in right at the beginning after the very short intro). But to my vague surprise, playing the said chords on piano, I immediately didn't hear the relationship between the chords and the song in any meaningful "oh ya!" kind of way (like I'd sort of hoped).
They just didn't fit in with my memory of the song. So, since I have piano keys on hand. I decided instead to just jump to a piano cover and see how people were playing the song (is what I watched). Well, the intro is a set of harmonic intervals. Not three note chords. Once the beat kicks in, the top note of the harmonic interval is simply played in unison an octave above. After which point the root note is ditched and the old top note is simply played in unison while the verse kicks in. Skip on over to the chorus and it's the same kind of thing. Now, I'm a bit confused by all this.
What exactly is the chord progression here? Is this in fact deemed to be chords? I thought chords were a simple three note minimum no exceptions kind of thing, unless unison is counted (but then, where does the Am Em G F come from?). I understand the idea that the vocals might technically leave us with three notes playing at the same time, but it would seem to be a fairly rough rule to base this off. I understand that adapting something for piano requires compromises or workarounds on the basis of what can be humanly played, but this doesn't seem like a case of such things (or is it?).
To my naïve, inexperienced self, I perceive a chord progression as exactly what I'd expect when I see Am Em G F, so long as I get the rhythm right and I guess the inversion if such a thing is relevant to the song. To my head I know how to play all those chords, and as such I would think I can just play them together and begin to hear the relationship with the song. Clearly this isn't the case though, and my understanding of chord progressions and harmony in relation to pop music (and probably much other music) is off from the fairly poor way the idea of chord progressions are oftentimes explained to people looking to learn more about music theory.
So, what am I missing here? I'm sure this is probably a dumb question...but please bear with me
.Thanks!