The musical culture of old believers is many-sided and composes significant layer in the history of the culture of Russian people as a whole. The musical sources of their traditions go back to the fundamentals of the vocal skill, connected with the professional church singing of Old Faith konfessiy all ancient Russia and taken root in the divine service. At the same time, living in the environment of "peace", they experience the strong influence of people musical culture. This culture, from one side, influences their way of life and ritual aspect of the life: wedding, calendar rite, etc. (especially in the peasant, the plant and, generally, lower medium), and with other leads to the assimilation of oral tradition. Its start in musical- vocal custom, generates such uncommon forms of musical skill, as for instance, the confessed lyric poetry, spiritual verses, satiric works, monuments of theatrical skill and others. All these sides of Old Faith musical culture are studied at present insufficiently thoroughly in order valuably to judge the value of Old Faith heritage. Interest in it from the side of musicologists was one-sided and accompanied attention exclusively to the monuments of the Old-Russian vocal skill, by keepers of which Old-Believers proved to be the will of the historical case. Among the researchers, the seriously and professionally occupied by musical culture old believers should be named N. G. Parfent'eva, N. Denisova, F. Panchenko, N. E. To denisovu, S. To Nikitin and some others, in works of which were determined basic directions in the study of the book- manuscript and oral vocal skill of old believers.
Old Faith is keeper and continuer of the unique traditions of the Old-Russian musical skill - standard singing, demestvennogo and travelling.
From the end OF THE XVII century after the reform of the vocal books it concentrated in its medium the significant layer of the vocal manuscripts, on which the divine service left, instruction in singing was conducted, services were comprised. But already from THE XVIII century in connection with the changes, which were touched old believers themselves, occurs the revision of ancient vocal heritage, and old believers become creators and carriers of the independent traditions, which, in the first place, are reflected in their manuscript collections.
In the Old Faith the stratification by several flows already from the end OF THE XVIII century occurs. Therefore the different centers, where their own local vocal versions of rite in accordance with the needs of community are formed are formed because of the musical thought and the craftsmanship of choirboys. Such first centers are created with the monasteries already in THE XVII century. Most authoritative of them in THE XVIII century becomes The vygoleksinskiy monastery, where the vocal books were copied, were comprised "stikhosloviya of poyemyya", that determined to two centuries the tradition of bespopovskikh agreements - pomortsev and, subsequently, fedoseyevtsev and filippovtsev, which based themselves in the limits of Nizhniy-Novgorod province, short heavy horses, in Starodub'e, and after crushing defeat in 1722 of kerzhenskikh monasteries - in the Urals and in Siberia. Pomorshchina in the Urals also was affirmed because of the activity of the messengers Of vygovskoy desert, in particular, Gabriel semenova Ukraintseva, which arranged in The nev'yanskeye plant school for instruction "hook singing" and stored in Nev'yanske in the seacoast hiding-place the meeting of the books. Its school existed to the autumn of 1750 . Majorities of beglopopovtsev and part of pomortsev, which based themselves around The nev'yanskeyeo plant, subsequently composed numerous chapel agreement among the peasant and mining-metallurgical population of the Urals.
In THE XIX century appear numerous musical centers and skriptorii in the different places for Russia: on the branch, in The irgizskeye monastery, in Petersburg, in The guslitskom district (Moscow area), in the Urals - Shartash, Nev'yansk, Gagar'e and others in Siberia. From the second-half OF THE XVIII century the vocal matter passes into the lower medium; by singers and the creators of the vocal manuscripts become peasants, plant workers and inhabitants, urban bottoms. They write the vocal books to order for the townspeople - the average men, merchants, plant, or for our own needs, instruction of boys, for the community, for the official custom, "to the exchange", for the "monastery" - the monasteries, which in THE XIX century are converted into the unique centers of quick peasantry. Such books cost dearly, from 1,5 to 5 ruble silvers. The medium of the existence of the vocal books was very diverse: peasants, plant people, priests, cossacks, merchants, soldiers - almost all classes, with exception of nobility. It is possible to isolate the books, also, according to the konfessional'nomu sign.
The types of the vocal books are added to the middle OF THE XIX century, in its letter, artistic formulation and the musical content indicating the writing in one or other konfessional'noy medium or another. Thus, classical highly artistic type - seacoast is born on Vyge. Toward the end OF THE XVIII century is asserted its kind the "canon" in its formulation. It becomes model for all communities of seacoast agreement, applying to entire north, short heavy horse, the Urals and into Siberia. Its special feature is prevailing in the course OF THE XVIII century in pomorshchine of the manner of letter - the so-called seacoast poluustav and the special clear manner of writing hooks and "salts", and also the emergent on the basis of the luxurious Moscow baroque of the second-half OF THE XVII century type of adornments with its color solution.

Seacoast ornament is characterized by izyashchnost'yu of study. With the coloring they were used noble green and raspberry-colored tones with the alternation of gold. The black outlines of figure emphasize its stylistic basis (book engraving). Title page, as a rule, was decorated with the baroque headpiece- framework, which occupied sometimes entire book turn, inside which by band or by specific for the seacoast manuscripts ornamented poluustavom communicated the name of vocal of collection, miniatures sometimes were placed.

To the right of the headpiece- framework the image of the flower (sometimes it it were retained in the hand) frequently was placed. The birds with the berries in the beaks were depicted at the apexes of the framework and flower.
The beginning of each new division of the manuscript was noted by the less complex in the artistic image headpiece, ornamented by kinovarnym initials. In this form it reached also to the present. On Vyge this decor was supplemented also with watercolor thinly with those executed in the pastel tones, with the portraits of the spiritual authorities of Andrey denisovich's pomortsev, the seeds Of denisovicha, Ivan Kovilin.

In the bespopovskikh agreements in Xix-xx centuries the very extended book style becomes the so-called "guslitskiy". It was formed in The guslitskoy rural district Of bogorodskogo district. To the middle OF THE XIX century Of guslitsy, and also the located by a number villages Of zapolitsa, Myastsevo, Belivy became the center of correspondence for the priest's agreements. Here worked cooperatives, which let out into several hands during one year not less than 100 copies per year. Guslitskiy ornament was differed from the detailed seacoast in terms of the freer constructions of shirokolistnykh grasses, by which with the aid of the thin shading the capacity in the windings was given. It was carried out by bright multicolored paints with the abundance of gold.

the Headpiece- framework of "guslitskogo letter" occupied title page completely. However, flower was placed on the revolution to the right or to the left of the text of first pesnopeniya, which began with enormous, into half of sheet, and that into the sheet by the ornamented initials. Section of a books were designated by headpieces from twisted wide leaves. Texts were written with round, slightly elongated poluustavom with the clear separation into the styles. The books consisted into the magnificent bindings from the finest morocco with the gold stamping. Edges were covered with gold and chased pattern.
These types of book formulation served as model for the clerks of local it was center. At the places series old believers, without having a possibility to purchase them, copied one or other style or another and were created in the more coarsened form their lists.

Fedoseyevtsy in the course of time manufactured their, more simplified style. The remarkable models of ornamentation and illustration appear in the second-half OF THE XIX century and the beginning OF THE XX century. There where the tradition died, especially in the priest's agreements, artistic formulation, for example, in the peasant medium was brought down to the level of primitive.
The books it were interwoven as before, boards were covered by the skin with the stamping, fastenings were carried out from the metal.
Bookbinders and clerks left on the pages of the books personal records, dies and even ex-libris.

Of all agreements only of filippovtsy they did not have the vocal books, since Paley on napevke, i.e., orally, counting singing on the "salts" - by antikhristovym fabrication.
The creation of the lists of vocal monuments by the representatives of different Old Faith agreements, in each of which they were its vocal- performer practice, undoubtedly, it was reflected in the literacy, the repertoire of pesnopeniy, the composition of the books. Composition changes, in turn, contributed to appearance the appearance of the new types of the manuscripts.