Editing Music theory (section)

===Rhythm===
{{Main|Rhythm}}
[[File:Metric levels.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|[[Metric level]]s: beat level shown in middle with division levels above and multiple levels below]]
Rhythm is produced by the sequential arrangement of sounds and silences in time. [[Metre (music)|Meter]] measures music in regular pulse groupings, called [[Bar (music)|measures or bars]]. The [[time signature]] or meter signature specifies how many beats are in a measure, and which value of written note is counted or felt as a single beat.

Through increased stress, or variations in duration or articulation, particular tones may be accented. There are conventions in most musical traditions for regular and hierarchical accentuation of beats to reinforce a given meter. [[Syncopation|Syncopated]] rhythms contradict those conventions by accenting unexpected parts of the beat.<ref>{{cite book|chapter=Syncopation|title=The Oxford Dictionary of Music |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780199579037.001.0001/acref-9780199579037-e-6605?rskey=S0uJUr&result=1 |quote=Syncopation is achieved by accenting a weak instead of a strong beat, by putting rests on strong beats, by holding on over strong beats, and by introducing a sudden change of time‐signature.|isbn=978-0199578108|publisher=Oxford University Press|year= 2013}}</ref> Playing simultaneous rhythms in more than one time signature is called [[polyrhythm]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Polyrhythm|url=http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/22059|website=Grove Music Online |publisher= Oxford University Press|access-date=11 August 2017|quote=The superposition of different rhythms or metres.}}</ref>

In recent years, rhythm and meter have become an important area of research among music scholars. The most highly cited of these recent scholars are [[Maury Yeston]],{{sfn|Yeston|1976}} [[Fred Lerdahl]] and [[Ray Jackendoff]],{{sfn|Lerdahl and Jackendoff|1985}} [[Jonathan Kramer]],{{sfn|Kramer|1988}} and Justin London.{{sfn|London|2004}}