The musical culture of the Turkmen people has been passed down from generation to generation for centuries. Throughout history, folk musicians—the bagshy —who mastered the art of singing and playing national instruments, have been held in special esteem and respect. They were the collectors and preservers of Turkmen musical folklore.

The family school of the Sary- bagshy dynasty played a significant role in the development of the art of bagshy, reports “Turkmenistan: Golden Age.”

Sary- bagshy Purli oglu, a student of the famous Kel- bagshy, was born in 1871 in the village of Bami in the Baharly etrap of the Ahal velayat to a musical family. His passion and love for folk music was passed down through his family. His first musical instrument was the dutar. From the age of 11, the young bagshy was a welcome guest at every celebration, and word of his singing prowess quickly spread throughout the region. He later collaborated with such bagshy as Mola Guvanch, Tachmammet Suhankuliyev, Kel- bagshy, Mukhat Ussa, and Hally bagshy.

From 1925 to 1930, ethnographer and composer V.A. Uspensky conducted three musical-ethnographic expeditions to various parts of Turkmenistan. In collaboration with scholar V.M. Belyaev, he wrote the scholarly work "Turkmen Music," published in Moscow in 1928. Part of the repertoire of the famous Sary- bagshy was included in the second volume of this work.

In 1927, Uspensky visited Sary- bagshy’s house and transcribed his music and songs into musical notation. In his memoirs, he wrote: “...Turkmen music is an art that stands at a definitely high level of perfection, and this is its true value.” An acquaintance with a musicologist and ethnographer led to the bagshy’s family moving to Ashgabat, where he began his career at the newly opened Turkmen State Music College. His grandsons, Oraz and Nury Saryyev (gijak), later studied at the same college.

During Sary- bagshy’s lifetime, it was impossible to record his songs. Later, after his death, in 1935, songs and music by Turkmen bagshy performers and musicians were recorded in Moscow. But his music, songs, and talent were not lost; they were passed on to his children and grandchildren.

Sary- bagshy’s son, People's Artist of Turkmenistan Purli Saryyev, worked for a long time in the Philharmonic and the Radio Committee, was the director of the Radio Folk Instruments Ensemble, and created a number of works for the dutar and gijak.

Honored Artist of Turkmenistan Oraz Saryev worked as a musician in the Folk Instruments Ensemble under the State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting. Nury Saryev, being a student at the Moscow State Conservatory named after P.I. Tchaikovsky, in the first days of the Great Patriotic War, volunteered for the front, served as part of the 8th Krasnopresnenskaya Division, died at a young age in October 1941 near Smolensk.

Seidmuhammed Saryev, an honored artist, dedicated his entire creative life to television and radio.