the classification of children’s songs 
with the classification model cmcs
lorena mihelač
School center Novo mesto; Slovenia
lorena.mihelac@sc-nm.si 
jelena panić grazio
Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia
jelenagrazio@gmail.com
Abstract: The paper presents a manual classification model, the Classification Model for 
the categorization of Children’s Songs (Model CMCS) for the selection of children’s 
songs based on the proposed criteria found in studies about the selection of children’s 
songs, on music theoretical background, and on findings from cross-cultural studies 
about (dis)similarities in children’s songs. A step-by-step procedure comprising four le-
vels for the classification of songs is explained and applied in the first testing, employing 
two musical experts for the evaluation of three different songs. The results have shown 
that the Model CMCS is transparent (understandable), applicable, and useful and will 
be tested in the next stage on a larger number of songs and involving more musical 
experts. An improved version of the Model CMCS could be used in the future as a fra-
mework for an automatic classification model for the selection of children’s songs.   
Keywords: children’s songs, selection criteria, classification, Model CMCS
klasifikacija otroških pesmi po klasifikacijskem modelu cmcs
Izvleček: Prispevek predstavlja model ročnega klasifikacijskega modela, Classification 
Model for the categorization of Children’s Songs (Model CMCS), za izbiro otroških 
pesmi, ki temelji na predlaganih in opredeljenih izbirnih merilih, najdenih v študijah o 
izbiri otroških pesmi, na glasbenoteoretičnem ozadju in na ugotovitvah medkulturnih 
študij o podobnosti/različnosti v otroških pesmih. Prikazan je štiristopenjski postopek 
klasifikacije pesmi in prvi preizkus modela, kjer sta dva glasbena strokovnjaka ocenila 
tri različne pesmi. Rezultati so pokazali razumljivost, primernost in uporabnost mode-
la CMCS, ki bo v naslednji fazi uporabljen na večjem naboru skladb ter z udeležbo več-
jega števila glasbenih strokovnjakov. Izboljšana različica modela CMCS bi bila lahko v 
prihodnosti uporabljena kot ogrodje za avtomatični model klasifikacije za izbiro otro-
ških pesmi.
Ključne besede: otroške pesmi, kriteriji za selekcijo, klasifikacija, model CMCS 
Kratki znanstveni prispevek ◆ Short Scientific Article
https://doi.org/10.26493/2712-3987.17(35)41-58
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section 1: introduction
How to define a children’s song? Is it a traditional lullaby sung by an adult, a simple play song invented and sung by a child, or maybe a commercial children’s song? The main problem in defining children’s 
songs lies in the fact this genre has grown out of the transformative under-
standing of childhood in cultural norms. It was not until the eighteenth cen-
tury that childhood was understood and recognized as a stage of life (Lowe, 
2004), and became an interesting topic in various studies at the end of the 
nineteenth century. If the existence of children’s culture was unimaginable for 
centuries, then in the last decades we can witness steady growth of attention to 
children’s culture. As music is meaningful to children and a “childhood con-
stant” (Campbell, 2010, p. 5), studies by ethnomusicologists, folklorists, edu-
cators, anthropologists, sociologists, and lately also musicologists, are centred 
more than ever toward the relation of music and children, and covering dif-
ferent areas, for example, children’s musical behaviour, musical activities, mu-
sic-making, music performance, music perception, etc. 
A special place is dedicated to children’s songs, exploring, for example, 
their content (Cederholm, 2012; Yalçinkaya, 2015), social and cultural sig-
nificance (Cederholm, 2012; Kartomi, 1980), the way that children perceive 
songs (Adachi et al., 2004; Calvert & Billingsley, 1998; Mihelač et al., 2021), 
how the songs are created and transmitted (Campbell, 2010; Marsh, 1999; Ni-
land, 2012), and their structure (Brailoiu, 1954; Herzog, 1944; Mihelač et al., 
2021; Rahn, 1981). Some studies (Elliott, 1960; Murphey, 1992; Myers, 1961; 
Nofziger, 1967; Norton, 1904) are focused on the criteria crucial for choos-
ing the most suitable songs for preschool and school-aged children. However, 
there is to date no clear procedure or model which clarifies step-by-step how to 
classify a particular song as a children’s song, and what exactly should be exam-
ined in each stage of the classification. 
In this paper, we propose a manual Classification Model for the catego-
rization of Children’s Songs (hereafter referred to as Model CMCS), with a 
clearly outlined procedure to be followed in the classification task with the 
purpose of selecting a children’s song. The Model CMCS, built on the find-
ings from studies dealing with the selection of a children’s song, musical theo-
ry, and findings from cross-cultural studies about children’s songs, is described 
in detail in in Section 3 and tested in Section 4. Section 2 examines contribu-
tions about the terminology and understanding of a song in general and par-
ticularly children’s songs, and also examines studies dealing with the criteria 
for the selection of children’s songs. Section 5 summaries the obtained results 
and outlines future research and possible improvements of the proposed Mod-
el CMCS.
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section 2: the definition of a children’s song 
As a children’s song is a song, then the first attempt in defining a children’s 
song is the understanding of a song and afterward its meaning in the context 
of children’s songs. The word ‘song’ (Etymology Dictionary Online, n.d.) has 
its roots in Old English ‘sang’ (voice, song, the art of singing; metrical compo-
sition adapted for singing, psalm, poem), which comes from Proto-Germanic 
‘songwho-’ (source also of Old Norse ‘söngr’, Norwegian ‘song’, Swedish ‘sång’, 
Old Saxon, Danish, Old Frisian, Old High German, German ‘sang’, Middle 
Dutch ‘sanc’, Dutch ‘zang’, Gothic ‘saggws’) and Proto-Indo-European ‘song-
wh-o-’ (singing, song) and ‘sengwh-’ (to sing, make an incantation). 
According to Griffiths (2004, p. 202), a song is a “vocal piece normally de-
livered by one person and short” A song is a “piece of music performed for a 
single voice, with or without instrumental accompaniment… (of which) folk 
songs (are) sung unaccompanied or with accompaniment provided by a sin-
gle instrument (e.g. guitar, piano), [and has to be] distinguished from art song, 
intended for performance by professional, or at least carefully taught singers, 
generally accompanied by piano or instrumental ensemble” (Encyclopedia Bri-
tannica, 2014). Turpin and Stebbins (2003, p. 3) define a song as “a sequence of 
syllables (‘text’) that is sung, where singing is recognized within the relevant 
community as the most appropriate method of delivering the text.”
The Dictionary of the Slovene Literary Language (Slovar slovenskega kn-
jižnega jezika, n.d.) even provides three definitions of a song. The first meaning 
is related to the field of literary theory and defines a song as “a shorter literary 
work with a rhythmic word order, with a special phonetic arrangement, usu-
ally with a smaller number of words in a line”. The second definition describes 
a song as “a vocal composition with a literary work as lyrics”. The third defini-
tion is based on the expressive meaning for a certain set of voices, sounds - ei-
ther for the sound of birds or insects (for example, “he listened to the songs of 
crickets”), or for the appearance, movement, operation of something (for ex-
ample, “the machine rumbled its monotonous song”). 
Jost (2021) avoids a precise definition of song because of its dual mean-
ing on a linguistic (or literary) and musical level, and because of the histori-
cally changing definition. While it is true that the language-music unit of the 
concept is constitutional in general, extensive application in both areas shows 
that the areas can be separated without necessarily causing a loss of conceptu-
al sense. On the one hand, the concept of a song can only be accepted as a text, 
even if it is intended for music and, on the other hand, as a song melody or even 
a produced set of songs - be it a standalone instrumental form or an instrumen-
tal transcript of the original song - without a text presentation.
Levitin (2009) defines a song as a musical composition intended or ‘adapt-
ed’ for singing, where the ‘adapted song’ (adapted by a professional composer 
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or orchestrator, or any person singing a song) should be understood as a song, 
whether or not it has lyrics (thus even if it is just hummed or sung with “la-la-
la”). This means that “a song can be (broadly speaking) music in all its forms, 
with or without melody, with or without lyrics” (p. 9). 
From the presented definitions of a song, it can be seen that a song is 
(mostly) defined as a vocal form (with or without accompaniment), short, and 
as a form including lyrics and melody, which also fits (from the perspective 
of these three features) a children’s song. A children’s song is often defined as 
a song composed for children in terms of lyrics and melodies (Sonsel, 2018; 
Voglar & Nograšek, 2009). Although there are children’s songs without melo-
dy (e.g. riddles, counting-out rhymes), used frequently for educational or oth-
er purposes with preschool children and school-aged children, the majority of 
children’s songs include both lyrics and melody. This could be explained by the 
fact that the origin of many children’s songs can be traced in rhythmic speech 
games, to which melodies were added over time (Opie & Opie, 1951). Anoth-
er explanation could be that either the expression of lyrics is more emphasized 
when it is sung, or the melody, when expressed with words (Alonso, 2012), or 
that the song is better memorized when lyrics and melody are both included in 
a song (Peretz et al., 2004; Saito et al., 2009). 
A children’s song is a song that expresses children’s experiences and emo-
tions (Supartini et al., 2020; Voglar & Nograšek, 2009), by including situa-
tions (celebrations, playing, homework, etc.) or objects (toys, items for every-
day use, people, animals, environments, etc.), which are closely related to the 
children’s world.  A children’s song can also be seen as a “subset” of children’s 
music (a term probably coined and introduced by the music industry), a genre 
that includes music and musical practices produced by adults for children, by 
children for children, or by adults and children engaged together for children 
(Lunde Vestad, 2017). 
Depending on who is the author of the lyrics or melody (adult/child), who 
is the audience (adults or children), and in which manner the author of the lyr-
ics or melody is acting (as adult or child), children’s songs can be differentiated 
from the perspective of the “mode of communication” (Woolston, 2012, p. 2). 
Once the mode of communication is determined, the children’s song is shaped 
and brought to life, e.g., by representing it on stage, by the use of mass media, 
by using it for educational purposes in formal/non-formal educational institu-
tions, in the family, and elsewhere. 
If defining a children’s song from the perspective of the content and struc-
ture of lyrics and melody suitable for children, the involvement in music and 
musical activities (children, adults, combined children, and adults), and the 
modes of communication, then a children’s song can be any song to which the 
word ‘children’ can apply. Thus, any commercial and non-commercial chil-
dren’s songs, folk songs/traditional songs for children (riddles, lullabies, count-
ing-out songs, infant amusements, game playing songs, etc.), songs from song-
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writers for children, and even art songs can be children’s songs.  However, 
classifying a song as a children’s song simply by applying the word ‘children’ is 
not sufficient, which has led to several studies proposing different criteria for 
the selection of songs suitable for children. From the very first studies (Nor-
ton, 1904) until the latest one, it is interesting that in a period of over 100 years, 
common criteria are found for the selection of children’s songs. More or less 
emphasized are the developmental, perceptual, conceptual, affective, and vo-
cal characteristics in preschool and school-aged children (Borota, 2013; Jožef 
Beg & Mihelač, 2019; Kabalevsky, 1964; Nofziger, 1967; Norton, 1904; Oblak, 
2007; Ministrstvo za šolstvo, znanost in šport in Zavod Republike Slovenije za 
šolstvo, 2003). 
There is an overall agreement about the lyrics in children’s songs, which 
should meet the children’s world; stimulate the imagination, emotions, and 
sensory processing; and include humour, rhythm, rhyme, alliteration, guessing 
elements, repetition, and unusual or picturesque words (Betül, 2017; Ceder-
holm, 2012; Huck, 1964; Norton, 1904; Thompson, 1962). 
There is more or less agreement about the criteria for melody in children’s 
songs. The melody range should meet, for example, the vocal range in preschool 
and school-aged children, include elements of perfect chords and arpeggios, 
simple rhythm, stable tonality (diatonic melodies within the key centres), only 
occasional chromatism, small intervals (without extreme leaps between tones), 
simple harmonic structure (with basic chords as tonic, subdominant and dom-
inant), binary over the ternary metre, simple form, frequent repetition of one 
tone, motifs, phrases, etc. (Borota, 2013; Jalongo & Renck, 1985; Kabalevsky, 
1964; Nofziger, 1967; Norton, 1904; Oblak, 2007; Ministrstvo za šolstvo, zna-
nost in šport in Zavod Republike Slovenije za šolstvo, 2003). An overall agree-
ment is also found concerning the relation between lyrics and melody, which 
should be woven together to create a consistent and compelling emotional mu-
sical composition, and about a syllabic text setting (lack of melisma). 
When summarizing all the outlined criteria for the selection of children’s 
songs from studies, it can be seen that three main factors prevail: a) childhood 
and its characteristics, b) structure of lyrics, and c) structure of melody in a 
song. If the criteria for the selection of a children’s song are proposed and de-
fined, a clear procedure (model) of the selection is missing, i.e. in which order 
should the criteria appear in the classification task, from the very beginning 
until the end of the final selection. 
In the continuation of this paper, the classification procedure and the 
manual classification model CMCS are presented. This model takes into con-
sideration 1) criteria outlined as crucial in studies about the selection of songs 
(title of the song, vocal range in preschool and school-aged children, lyrics, mel-
ody, the audience for which the song is intended), 2) the foundations of music 
theory, and 3) the findings from cross-cultural studies about the (dis)similari-
ty in children’s songs, which can be a valuable source in defining additional se-
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lection criteria, e.g. the lack of ornamentation and minor motivic variations on 
account of the text (Herzog, 1944; Ling, 1997).
section 3: model cmcs
The proposed classification for the categorization of a song as a children’s 
song has an initial level and four main levels (Figure 1): Initial level, First level, 
Second level, Third level, and Fourth level. 
Each level has a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ option, the ‘yes’ option leading to another con-
dition (or level), and a ‘no’ option for terminating the process if a song does 
not meet the required condition(s) in a particular level. The classification starts 
with the Initial level in which selected songs are classified by title, by applying 
the word ‘children’. 
In some cases, the title of a particular song points clearly to children or 
children’s activities (for example, “Hush, little baby”, “Little Boy Blue”, “Girls 
and boys come out to play” etc.). A problem arises when the title of a song 
does not provide any information on whether the song is or is not a children’s 
song, except for those who have grown up with these songs (for example, the 
songs “Mary had a little lamb”, “Baa, baa, black sheep”, and “Georgie Porgie” 
are known in countries where English is an official or second main language, 
and the song “Ringa, ringa, raja” is known in Slovenia, where Slovene is the of-
ficial language). In this case, it is necessary to acquire additional information, 
for example, about the origin of the song, about the circumstances in which 
the song has been created, etc. If a selected song does not meet the initial re-
quirement, it is automatically terminated otherwise it proceeds to the First lev-
el, in which only one condition is checked, the existence of both lyrics and 
melody, as a children’s song is considered in this paper as a syncretic musical 
composition, comprising lyrics and melody, regardless of whether the song has 
an additional accompaniment or not (for example piano, organ, guitar accom-
paniment). If the ‘yes’ option is chosen, the song proceeds to the Second level, 
otherwise it is terminated. 
The Second level has two conditions:
a) Content, suitable and understandable to children, and 
b) The audience consisting of children. 
Even if the songs are classified as children’s songs, the content can be too 
demanding for children, i.e., exceeding their understanding (for example, the 
Mahler’s song cycle “Kindertotenlieder”), or inappropriate because it contains 
unacceptable values, stereotypes, gender inequality, violence, etc., or does not 
provide a joyful, emotional experience and the possibility for self-expression 
(Jožef Beg & Mihelač, 2019).
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In the case the first condition is met, the song proceeds to the second con-
dition which checks the audience. Although the intended audience can be 
made up of adults or children (or adults and children), in this classification, 
children as the audience, and their reception of a song, are considered. “The 
value of a musical work does not lie (only) in its physical structure but in the ef-
fect, it has on us” (Portnoy, 1963, p. 113), a statement which should be true not 
only for music intended for adults but also for music intended for children.
After fulfilling both conditions, the song proceeds to the Third level, oth-
erwise, it is terminated. Third level deals with the authorship of lyrics and mel-
ody. At this level, three possible conditions are outlined: 
a) Unknown authorship of both lyrics and melody: the song is classified as a 
“Traditional song” (Children’s folk song),
b) Unknown authorship of lyrics and known melody (or vice versa): the song 
is classified as a “Song based on a traditional song”, 
c) Known authorship of lyrics and melody: the song is classified as a “New 
song”.
In this level, if condition ‘a’ is not met, the song proceeds to the condition 
‘b’ or ‘c’. In the case the song does not meet the condition ‘c’, a double-check of 
the conditions ’a’ and ‘b’ is employed. In this level, none of the selected songs is 
terminated, as this level deals only with authorship of lyrics or melody, regard-
less of who the author is, i.e. a child or an adult (or even both, child and adult).
When a song reaches the Fourth level, the last and the most crucial lev-
el, the structure and features of lyrics and melody are analysed in depth. From 
the perspective of lyrics, the educative contribution, pleasantness (joyful-
ness), understandability, stimulation to the imagination, unusual/picturesque 
words, syllabic text setting (lack of melisma), rhyme, assonance, alliteration, 
rhythm, shortness, and repetition are analysed. From the perspective of melo-
dy, rhythm, metre, tonality, chromatism, pitch (interval leaps), tessitura (pitch 
range of the song), contour, harmonic structure, basic formal units (motifs, 
sub-motifs, phrases, sentences/periods), song-type (e.g. one-part, simple two-
part, three-part), shortness, and repetition (absolute and relative) are analysed. 
It can be seen that similar criteria are found in lyrics and melody such 
as (simple) rhythm, shortness, and repetition, which are some of the features 
found in cross-cultural studies about children’s songs (Brailoiu, 1954; Camp-
bell & Wiggins, 2013; Clifton, 2009; Eliot, 2000; Forrester, 2020; Herzog, 
1944; Mihelač et al., 2021; Trehub, 2003). Especially, repetition has a crucial 
role in children’s songs, where smaller or larger parts (one tone/vowel/conso-
nant, motifs/words, phrases, periods/sentences, etc.) in lyrics or melody are 
very frequently repeated, creating the feeling of predictability (Mihelač et al., 
2021), which in turn can be soothing for children (Levitin, 2009), and stimu-
late brain growth (Eliot, 2000).
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Both lyrics and melody have to meet the outlined criteria to proceed to 
two additional conditions examining the matching between melody range 
(tessitura) and children’s vocal range: whether the song is more suitable for pre-
school children (condition ‘a’) or school-aged children (condition ‘b’). Kaba-
levsky (1964) points out that a composer should know the child themself and 
the “instrument” for which they are composing, thus the children’s voice and 
its limitations. The conditions ‘a’ and ‘b’ are based on the findings from studies 
examining the vocal range in children. According to Welch (1979), the vocal 
range in children aged 5 to 7 years can be small, between D4 to A41, or large, 
between G3 and D5. The typical vocal range for children aged 8 to 11 years is 
approximately two octaves, between G3 and G#5 (Moore, 1991). Kim (2000) 
suggests a typical range for preschool children between C4 to C5, which can 
vary depending on maturation. According to Cooksey (1992), the vocal range 
in school-aged children (approximately from 8-10 or 11 years old) is between 
Bb3 and F5, and between A3 and G5 in children aged 11 and 12 (13) years old. 
Figure 1.  Model CMCS.
1 In this paper the American Standard Pitch Notation (ASPN) is used.
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section 4: analysis of songs using the model cmcs
Subsection 4.1: Applying and Testing the Model CMCS 
In Subsection 4.1., the Model CMCS is applied and tested on three different 
songs and evaluated by two musical experts. As a full analysis of all the crite-
ria outlined in Section 3 would be out of the scope of this paper, only some of 
the criteria are used. 
SONG  “RINGA, RINGA RAJA”
- Initial level
 The Slovenian children’s folk song “Ringa ringa raja” has different lyr-
ics in the collection of songs no. IV from Štrekelj (1908–1923, p. 434), in 
Komavec et al. (2004, p. 68), and in Voglar and Nograšek (2009, p. 141), 
and different melodies in Komavec et al. (2004, p. 68), and Voglar and 
Nograšek (2009, p. 141). Different variations of this song can be found in 
Great Britain as ‘“Ring a Ring O’Roses”, with lyrics (rhyme) which (pre-
sumably) date back to the days of the Great Plague in England (Opie & 
Opie, 1985, p. 365), in Germany “Ringel Reihe” (“Ringel, Ringel, Rosen”), 
in the Netherlands “Roze, Roze, Meie”, and in Italy “Gira, Gira Rosa”, in-
dicating a common pre-version, spread over regions and countries during 
a period of time.
- First level 
 The song has lyrics and melody, which means it fulfils both conditions to 
proceed to the Second level.
- Second level
 The content of this song is light-hearted, pointing to children dancing 
round in a circle (‘ring’), which can be found in many ancient cultures. 
The condition ‘b’ is also fulfilled, as this song is intended for children and 
has become over time standard ‘repertoire’ of songs in children’s society.
- Third level
 The authors of the lyrics and melody of this children’s song are unknown. 
As the authorship of lyrics and melody is not known, the song is classified 
as a ‘traditional song’ according to the condition ‘a’ and proceeds further 
to the Fourth level.
- Fourth level
 The song is a one-part song, short (only 8 bars), consisting of two four-
bar phrases (Figure 2). The song has in total four motifs (m1-m4). When 
sub-dividing motifs into sub-motifs, it can be seen that sub-motif sub-m1 
is very frequently repeated, as also sub-m2, repeated in a transposed man-
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ner (sub-t2) in bars four and six.  The melody has a narrow range, and no 
chromatism.  The harmonic structure is based on only two functions, the 
tonic (T) and dominant function (D).  Rhyme is found in this song in bars 
two and four (‘raja’, ‘(na)gaja’) and in bars six and eight (‘teče’, ‘(po)meče’). 
The song has a syllabic-text setting. The content of lyrics is pleasant, un-
derstandable, and childish. Because of the structure, which is found to be 
very simple in this song, and the pitch range (tessitura), which is between 
B4 and E5, the song is suitable for preschool children.
Figure 2. Children’s song “Ringa, ringa raja”
SONG “WIEGENLIED”,  OP. 49, NO. 4  (JOHANNES BRAHMS)
- Initial level
The Brahms children’s song “Wiegenlied” op. 49, no. 4 was written in 
1868 to congratulate Bertha Faber on the birth of her second son, Hans. Orig-
inally it was known under the title “Wiegenlied: Guten Abend, gute Nacht”. 
The title itself already points to a song intended for children. As the song meets 
the requirement of the initial level, it proceeds to the First level.
- First level 
 The song has lyrics and melody and therefore proceeds to the Second lev-
el.
- Second level
 The content of this song (condition ‘a’), is a lullaby, bringing to the fore-
front memories from our own lives by using the mother’s voice while sing-
ing a lullaby. Brahms has used the Austrian dialect in creating a ‘natural 
intimacy’, close to the rural life (Bottge, 2005, p. 15). As the song address-
es children, the condition ‘b’ is fulfilled.
- Third level
 The author of the lyrics of this song is unknown. Brahms has used the first 
verse from “Des Knaben Wunderhorn”, a collection of German folk po-
ems. The second stanza, which is not presented in this paper, was written 
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by Georg Scherer (1824–1909) in 1849 and added later to the song. The 
melody is from Brahms. As the authorship of lyrics (in the first stanza) is 
unknown, and known in the case of the melody, Brahm’s “Wiegenlied” 
can be defined as a children’s song based on a traditional song. 
Figure 3.  J. Brahms “Wiegenlied”  op. 49, no. 4
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- Fourth level
 The song has in total 18 bars of which 16 bars cover the singing part, con-
sisting of two periods, of which each has two four-bar phrases. As we can 
see in Figure 3, only motif 5 (‘m5’) is repeated, however, bars 10-14 are re-
peated in the entire form in bars 14-18 (‘Morgen früh, wenn Gott will, 
wirst du wieder geweckt’). Rhyme is found in bars four and six (‘Nacht’, 
‘(be)dacht’), and in bars eight and ten (‘(be)steckt’, ‘Deck’). The song has a 
syllabic-text setting. The rhythmic structure is simple, and the harmonic 
structure as well, based on tonic (T), subdominant (S), and dominant (D) 
function. Arpeggio elements (broken chords) are used in the melody, and 
no chromatism is found. The pitch range (tessitura) of this song spans an 
octave, from Eb4 to Eb5, classifying the song as more suitable for school-
aged children from eight years on. 
SONG ‘“DAS KINDERSPIEL’”  KV 598 (W. A. MOZART) 
- Initial level
 January 1791, Mozart composed three songs for voice and piano: “Sehn-
sucht nach dem Frühling” (“Komm, lieber Mai und mache”) KV 596, “Der 
Frühling”, (“Erwacht zum neuen Leben”) KV 597, and “Das Kinder-
spiel” (“Wir Kinder, wir schmecken”) KV 598. All three songs were pub-
lished by Ignaz Alberti in the section “Frühlingslieder” of a four-volume 
collection of songs “Liedersammlung für Kinder und Kinderfreunde” am 
Clavier in Vienna. The title of the song “Das Kinderspiel” (“Child’s play”) 
clearly points to children and is therefore selected for the First level. 
- First level 
The song proceeds to the next level as it has lyrics and melody.
- Second level
 The content of this song (condition ‘a’) presents children playing in nature 
(Figure 4), an exciting environment for children, and elements of a child’s 
game are emphasized in the lyrics (for example, lärmen/making noise, sin-
gen/singing, rennen/running, hüpfen/hopping, springen/jumping). As 
the condition ‘a’ is fulfilled, the ‘b’ condition is checked, showing that al-
ready the title of the collection, “Liedersammlung für Kinder und Kin-
derfreunde am Clavier”, points to the audience, which consists of children 
and friends of children (‘Kinder und Kinderfreunde’). As both conditions 
are met, the song proceeds to the Third level. 
- Third level
 The melody of this song was composed by Mozart on the 14th of January 
1791 using the lyrics from the German poet Christian Adolf Overbecks. 
As both authors (of lyrics and melody) are known, the song is classified as 
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a ‘New song’, according to condition ‘c’, and the song proceeds further to 
the next level.
Figure 4.  W. A. Mozart ‘Das Kinderspiel’ KV 598.
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- Fourth level
 In the original musical score, at the beginning ‘Munter’ (blithely) is writ-
ten, indicating that the representation of the song should be in a happy, 
cheerful, carefree manner. The sixteenth notes in the singing part and pi-
ano part are sometimes written in a ‘pendulum movement’ manner (e.g. 
in the piano part in bars 1-12, and the singing part in bars 9-10 and 13-14), 
contributing to a highly joyful experience. In Figure 4, we can see motifs, 
which are repeated, either literally, motif ‘m6’, conditionally, motif ‘m2 
(cond.)’, or in a transposed manner as a sequence, motifs ‘m9’ and ‘t9’. The 
song is short. It has in total 20 bars, of which the first 16 bars cover the pi-
ano and singing part, in total two periods ‘a’ and ‘b’, each eight bars in du-
ration, and each period consisting of two phrases. The song type can be 
defined as a simple two-part song. Except for sub-motifs ‘sub-m2’ in motif 
‘m1’, and sub-motifs ‘sub-m1’ and ‘sub-m2’ in motif ‘m4’, there are no oth-
er huge leaps in the singing part, which moves more or less smoothly with-
in the interval of a fifth. The song has no alliteration, but perfect rhyme is 
found in bars 4 and 8 (‘viel’, ‘Spiel’) and in bars 12 and 16 (‘herum’, ‘run-
dum’). The song has a syllabic-text setting. The contour of melody in the 
first period (bars 1-8) has an ‘arch shape’ (Mihelač et al., 2021), and two 
descending phrases in the second period. The harmonic structure is very 
simple, with tonic (T), subdominant (S), and dominant (D) functions 
prevailing. An exception is the Subdominant parallel (Sp) in the 14th bar. 
No chromatism is found in the melody. Based on the results of the anal-
ysis of the structure, and on the pitch range (tessitura) of this song which 
spans an octave, from E4 to E5, the song is more suitable for school-aged 
children from eight years on.
section 5: conclusions 
In this paper, a brief discourse about children’s songs has been presented, with 
the purpose to find the most appropriate terminology and the characteristi-
cs of this genre, essential for the creating of the classification model for the se-
lection of children’s songs, Model CMCS.  The model is based on three essen-
tial components. Firstly, it takes into consideration the proposed and defined 
selection criteria found in studies about the selection of children’s songs. Cho-
ice of these selection criteria relies on their frequency found in studies exami-
ning the most suitable selection criteria for children’s songs. Secondly, a firm 
music-theoretical background is used when testing musical examples with the 
model. Thirdly, findings from cross-cultural studies about (dis)similarities in 
children’s songs are used as well, in order to add one if it is not found among 
the already selected criteria.
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A step-by-step procedure in a four-level classification task has been shown, 
providing for each level an explanation for the chosen criteria for the selection 
of songs. The model has been tested by using three different songs evaluated 
by two musical experts. The results of the testing have shown the transparen-
cy, applicability, and usefulness of the Model CMCS which should be tested 
in the next stage on a larger number of songs, and employing more musical ex-
perts. In the future, the model could be used as a framework for an automatic 
classification model for the selection of children’s songs. 
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Povzetek 
UDC 784.67:025.44/.47
V tem prispevku je bil predstavljen kratek diskurz o otroških pesmih z namenom naj-
ti najprimernejšo terminologijo in značilnosti te zvrsti, ki so bile bistvene za oblikovanje 
klasifikacijskega modela za izbiro otroških pesmi, modela CMCS. Model temelji na treh 
bistvenih komponentah. Najprej upošteva predlagana in opredeljena izbirna merila, ki 
jih najdemo v študijah o izbiri otroških pesmi. Izbira teh izbirnih meril temelji na njihovi 
pogostosti, ugotovljeni v študijah, ki preučujejo najprimernejša izbirna merila za otroške 
pesmi. Drugič, pri preizkušanju glasbenih primerov z modelom se uporablja glasbeno-
teoretično ozadje. Tretjič, uporabljene so tudi ugotovitve medkulturnih študij o podob-
nosti/različnosti v otroških pesmih z namenom dopolnitve nabora meril.
Prikazan je postopek po korakih v štiristopenjski klasifikacijski lestvici, ki za vsako stop-
njo vsebuje razlago izbranih meril za izbiro skladb. Model sta preizkusila in ocenila dva 
glasbena strokovnjaka na treh različnih glasbenih primerih. Rezultati testiranja so poka-
zali preglednost, primernost in uporabnost modela CMCS, ki bi se lahko v prihodnosti 
uporabil kot ogrodje samodejnega klasifikacijskega modela razvrščanja za izbiro otro-
ških pesmi.