He graduated from Kostroma Music College in 1962 and Gorky Conservatory (currently Glinka Nizhny Novgorod State Conservatory) in 1970, where he was also a trainee assistant to Professor N. Chaikin, Merited Worker of Art, composer.

Since 1970, Nikolay Malygin has been the head of the Department of Folk Instruments and Orchestral Conducting of Chelyabinsk State Academy of Culture and Art. He actively performs and composes instrumental, choral, and vocal compositions.