The book first explores ditties with melodized tunes in the context of the cultural traditions of the western part of the Vologda and adjacent regions of the Leningrad regions; features of the functioning of ditties in ritual, labor and social situations are revealed; the musical and style features of melodized ditties are studied; based on a comparative typological analysis of tunes, connections are found between ditties with epic, calendar-ritual genres of musical folklore, with lamentations, lyrical and lullabies.