If, according to the well-known theory of Harvard scientist Stanley Milgram, any two complete strangers on the planet can be connected to each other through six handshakes, then musicians are not "like people." The world of musicians is very small. Have you noticed that the biographies of contemporary musicians seem to be written "under a carbon copy"?

The fact is that each of them passes through the "conveyor belt" of a music school, a music school and a conservatory. In addition, therefore, almost all musicians within the same city, country, and continent ... are familiar with each other almost from the very young years. After all, they all have the same childhood, starting with the study schedule (which includes daily hours-long classes in the specialty, rehearsals of a consolidated choir or orchestra), and ending with the location (since, compared to general education institutions, there are not so many musical ones).

Musicians are cooked in the same pot and inevitably intersect in it. With people of this profession, it is impossible to apply Milgram's beautiful theory, it immediately begins to "malfunction". Take, for example, any two musicians from different parts of the planet, and it turns out that they are not "strangers" to each other at all. They will be connected not only by their profession, but also by many other things. Most likely, it will turn out that this is a teacher and a student, an author and a performer, or just members of a duet. As they say, cross out the unnecessary. Moreover, throughout your entire life as a musician, you can smoothly move from one state to another.

Therefore, it is with Larisa Illarionovna Orazmamedova, a piano teacher at the Ashgabat Children's Art School No. 1, one of the best in her field, the owner of a number of state awards and the title of veteran of labor.

We constantly cross paths with her. As a child, I competed in a competition with her students. Later, Larisa Illarionovna and I were colleagues. After 14 years, she became my child's teacher. Then, it was the case that I brought her the sheet music of my compositions. Therefore, quite recently, on a concert of students of Orazmamedova's class, we saw her again.

Looking ahead, I will say right away that the concert was wonderful. Moreover, having heard about him, Larisa Illarionovna's graduates gave her a pleasant surprise. They all came to her on the day of the concert and said they wanted to perform. I had to change the concert program and conduct it in an expanded format.

The musical evening began with the performance of the youngest pianists, and then their older comrades replaced them. Especially everyone remembered the performances of Amalia Ovchinnikova, Yana Hydyrova, Meryem Shihiyeva, Leyli Amanmuradova.

By the way, one of the listeners in the hall liked the fervent rhythms of the melodies so much that he even began to snap his fingers and clap to the rhythm and cheer the musicians loudly out loud, which amused the audience a lot. The children performed compositions by Turkmen masters Nury Halmammedov, Chary Nurimov, as well as Russian, European, and American composers.

Then the "word", or rather the stage, was provided to graduates Arzygul Yarjanova, Anastasia Kosnikova, Damir Jumayev, Lidia Barsanyan. By the way, among them was the same girl who took part in the recent ceremony of handing over the piano to the Turkmen-Russian Pushkin School. It is said that it was her report, written on the topic "Music and Mathematics", that attracted the attention of a delegation from Russia led by Prime Minister Mishustin during a tour of the school, and helped the guests decide on the idea of a gift. She also had the honor of being the first to play the new piano.

Separately, I want to tell you about the work of Nury Halmammedov "Dedication", which was performed at this concert. There are several versions about whom it was dedicated to, and they all mostly revolved around female persons. Nevertheless, in fact, the composer dedicated this composition to his dear teacher V.G.Hiruntsev. Larisa Illarionovna studied with the legendary Hiruntsev at the music school and personally saw the notes with the memorial inscription of Halmammedov. She even has a photograph of this manuscript.

What surprises me in this story is the incredible way in which people living at different times joined together: Halmamedov-Hiruntsev, Hiruntsev-Orazmamedova, Orazmamedova and her students... If Milgram's theory talks about the connection of two people at a distance, then for musicians it occurs in a completely different dimension, in time.

After the concert, I decided to visit Larisa Illarionovna in her invariable office on the second floor. The walls in her classroom are amazing after all. Instead of paintings and reproductions, they are decorated with diplomas, diplomas and award lists decorated in photo frames. Her pupils received them in different years in creative contests and competitions, and now there is not so much space left on the walls where new ones can be hung, from new students. These glazed frames with diplomas inside reflect the whole life and work of Larisa Illarionovna. These leaflets with the names of boys and girls who won prizes are mute witnesses and at the same time, the results of the labors, hopes and aspirations of the honored teacher, this is her personal "tale of bygone years". Moreover, for us, for all of us, this is a real "factory of stars" of cabinet number 21.

Many of Larisa Illarionovna's students graduated from the conservatory became professionals and work successfully. Still they run to her, someone for advice, someone to share their successes, or just to see her. In addition, those of them who live in other parts of the world are constantly calling Larisa Illarionovna. Moreover, what is funny is that students living in Israel, Russia, Australia, or America, because of the time difference, specifically do not go to bed or wake up very early in order to have time to chat with their favorite teacher.

Talking about her students, Larisa Illarionovna smiles, and from time to time casts a motherly warm and tender glance towards the frames on the wall, as if the eyes of talented, but still mischievous people are looking at her from them. Larisa Illarionovna just needs to look at any of the diplomas, and she immediately recalls funny stories associated with its owner.

She also recalls how her students had to study a lot and persistently, rehearse, and literally "storm" the school hall, where there is a grand piano, to which a daily queue of pianists is lined up. After all, it is one thing to sit at the piano in the classroom, it's another to "feel" the piano on the concert stage. Here the sensations are different, and the acoustics, and the aura. There is a reason why this instrument is called royal. Only those of the young pianists who won the "battle for the piano", having gained access to it, sit down expectantly at the keyboard of a white-toothed lacquered handsome man with a black wing. Then, at the end of the rehearsal, they leave the concert hall with completely different people, as if feeling a little like artists.

However, not everything always goes smoothly. Looking from the outside, it seems that playing the piano is easy and simple. In fact, behind these effortlessly fluttering fingers is a daily hours of hellish work. Pianists have to hone every passage, chord, musical turn or phrase. Moreover, it is not just about technique and fluency, but also about sound quality.

And I know for sure that the keyboard of each piano has repeatedly gone through the ritual of washing with tears of young musicians who, instead of repeating boring scales and exercises, just want to drive the ball in the yard. I know about all these "dramas" with scales from my own experience. Parents who have sent their child to a music school often have to deal with the suppression of domestic "riots" and "strikes" organized by young musicians.

According to the stories of Larisa Illarionovna, there are also situations when it is necessary to psychologically and morally support students who are tired of the educational process, at moments of so-called "breakdowns", not to let them be disappointed in the chosen path, not to discourage their interest in music, to motivate them to study. In addition, here experience, the right approach, the ability of the teacher to explain to the little man why systematic classes are needed are very important. Moreover, with such joint efforts of the teacher and the student, as the pianists say, all problems are solved "in four hands".

Larisa Illarionovna is masterfully able to do it. She is always in accord with the people, friendly, kind, caring, but at the same time strict and demanding. A true professional in his field!

Larisa Illarionovna spends the entire first year of training practicing the correct placement of hands on the keyboard with the child. Painstakingly, step by step, she forms and sculpts her pianists, her "stars", as she likes to say.

It is believed that the earlier you start studying music, the better, for example, from the age of six or seven. The tiny fingers of the first ones are elastic, flexible, and soft like plasticine. Some of the children do not even really know how to hold a ballpoint pen, but they are already confidently playing their first melodies. Kids have to use a special seat with adjustable height.

However, not everyone has such a swivel chair. Then thick dictionaries and encyclopedias are used, which are placed on the seat of an ordinary chair, and a young pianist sits on top of this improvised Eiffel Tower. By the way, I was lucky, and I had such a high chair as a child. My friends and I loved to fool around and have fun with him. For example, it was possible to spin on it for a long time and prepare for "cosmonauts".

During the educational process for Larisa Illarionovna, every little thing plays an important role. Starting the lesson, she will certainly ask the child: "How is the mood?", "Not hungry?", "Not tired?", "Not cold?"...She will also ask in what conditions her pupils are engaged at home.

Parents of students often invite her to their home so that she "tests" their instrument, checks the correctness of the settings, the tightness of the keys, corrects its location in the room (the piano is sensitive to drafts and dampness). In addition, it sets the height of the seat, determines at what distance from the instrument the student should sit, in general, there are many nuances here.

That is how Larisa Illarionovna works day by day, like a good fairy, turning into brilliant musician’s boys and girls who are brought to her music school. Moreover, interestingly, when they first found themselves in Larisa Illarionovna's office, just like me, they feel indescribable delight at the sight of the walls in her classroom, and immediately begin to look for places for their future awards between the diplomas hanging on the wall.

"Starry" in the literal and figurative sense, a teacher, has created entire galaxies of talented Turkmen pianists, and does not stop there. This is logical, because according to the laws of physics, the universe should grow and expand all the time.

Ayna SHIROVA