Meter
Musical meteris an abstract cognitive structure that is thought to guide rhythmic behaviors. Music theorists describe meter as containing a hierarchy of two or more isochronous (evenly spaced) beat levels, which are abstracted from and not necessarily identical to rhythms in the musical surface structure (Lerdahl & Jackendoff, 1983; London, 2002, 2004; Palmer & Krumhansl, 1990).