Carl Stumpf studied with Franz Brentano. He received his doctorate under R.H. Lotze in Göttingen in 1868. Shortly afterwards he entered the Würzburg Priests' Seminary, but left before ordination. In 1870 he finished his Habilitation successfully at Göttingen.
Carl Stumpf was appointed professor in Würzburg at a very young age of 25 years in 1873. He was one of the most early music psychologists and was particularly concerned with harmony and disharmony. He followed a different approach than Helmholtz: Stumpf saw in the psychology of sound rather a psychological phenomenon, while Helmholtz assumed a physical one.
During his time in Würzburg from 1873-1879, he began to work on the first volume of his "Tonpsychologie" (Tonepsychology).