Now interest to "roots" of people, its folklore, traditions and ceremonies has increased. In the given article the history of collecting Mari national songs at the past and at the present is described. The article aims to reveal stages of development of collecting and studying Mari musical folklore in a context of power structures policy, activity of some outstanding ethnographers, musicians, and also a modern situation in musical-ethnographic activity of Mari scientists. A number of data put into scientific turnover for the first time that makes research new.