Garabagh is a fatherland of Azerbaijani poetry and music; it is a part of the Azerbaijan Republic. It is a land of miraculous and picturesque nature, as well as the richest spiritual and cultural traditions. Garabagh is the native land of a great many outstanding Azerbaijani scientists, poets, writers, artists, and musicians.

Great Azerbaijani composer Uzeir Hajibeyov, remarkable singers Bulbul and Rashid Behbudov, maestro Niyazi, representatives of Azerbaijani professional composer school – Fikret Amirov, Soltan Hajibeyov, Suleyman Alesgerov, Ashraf Abbasov and many others nurtured their talents at blessed Garabagh land.

Shusha city is a historical and cultural centre of Garabagh. It takes specific place in Azerbaijani musical culture.
The city was built in the middle of the 18th century. It invariably attracted attention of progressive public due to its economic development, geographical location and fascinating nature. At the start of the 19th century Shusha had already become a center of musical Azerbaijan.

The forming of Garabagh Mugam School started exactly that period, and later, at the second half of the 19th and early 20th century achieved its culmination.
Garabagh School as a school of traditional music culture was developed around individual masters, handing down traditions of their professional creative work.

Famous representatives of Garabagh Mugam School were Shusha born. Their lives and creation were closely connected with this city. There are such folk proverbs as: “If one cannot sing he is not Shusha born” and “Even babies cry to the accompaniment of mugam singing in Shusha”.

It is typical that they called Shusha as “Conservatoire of Caucasus”. All hanende (singers) learning essence of mugam skill, and perceiving its secrets in Shusha, as well as players on folk instruments, performed their creative activity at every corner of Azerbaijan and even along the Caucasus. Fame of Garabagh musicians overstepped Azerbaijan boarders. They granted ponderable contribution into Azerbaijani music treasury, defending existing century-old musical traditions. Their mugams, songs and tesniffs became popular very rapidly. These musicians were beloved among the folk. They were famous for their rare voices and unusual performing manner.

Mugam as professional music of oral traditions requires performers to demonstrate profound knowledge and skills to perform melody colored by ornament and melismas, to know specific turns that are the essence of each mugam section, as well as transition from one part of mugam to another. It is necessary to receive a great schooling to study it all. It is mandatory condition to master mugam art.

It is memorable that the first music schools where they taught mugams appeared in Shusha in the middle of the 19th century. Famous in Shusha connoisseur of mugam Harrat Gulu was the first who opened such school. He chose talented children with good voices from the region and taught them basis of eastern poetry and music as well to sing mugams and tesniffs. He paid special attention to the purity of voice and correct singing of destgakh. However Harrat Gulu School basically served religion, because he prepared children to participate in devotions. Despite all this the school played significant role in upbringing of many singers, which later took important place in Azerbaijani music culture. Such singers as Haji Husi, Abdulbagi Zulalov, Jabbar Garyagdi, tar-player Mirza Sadig Asad oglu were alumni of this school. After Harrat Gulu’s death, Ker (Blind) Khalifa and Molla Ibrahim continued his work.