A bar is 4 beats per measure, it's almost like every four seconds is a bar (if you tap your pencil four times that a bar), the faster the beats the faster the seconds/taps. They are counted without taps like "1-1-2-2-3-3-4 that's one, 2-1-2-2-3-3-4 that's two". That's the best text explanation I can give you of what a real bar is.