Chastushka is usually a quatrain in trochee with cross rhyming of the 2nd and 4th lines (or all lines sometimes). A peculiar feature of chastushka language is its expressiveness and richness of linguistic means, which often go beyond the standard language. Chastushka is often performed to the accompaniment of an accordion or a balalaika.

As for their subject matter, chastushkas can be divided into love-and-household and social-political. However, they often intertwine.

Love-and-household ditties are usually about village and collective-farm everyday life. Integral part is the collective-farm production subject, with participation of tractor operators-machine operators.

The social-and-political chastushkas mostly depict life condition in a satirical manner. In Soviet days the Soviet propaganda would often trigger new chastushkas to appear.

Lots of chastushkas pinpointed general indifference of common people to all the perturbations in the country — as a counterbalance to the imposed political activity. Sometimes chastushkas conveyed the current news. Some ditties came us an instant well-aimed reaction to topics of the day. At the same time, “ideologically correct” chastushka collections were published for the sake of Soviet propaganda.

Folk ditties were composed by both adults and children.