The paper presents a historic review of the relationship between music psychol­ogy and music theory, starting from two different positions: • music as a phenomenon of nature, • music as a human psychologic phenomenon. Treatises on music show that from the 17th century on, rules for composing music related to human perception, thinking, and experience. So, the second position became more and more important. Relating music theory to psychological phe­nomena relied on the concept of an 'idealized' listener because theoretical rules should be of general validity. However, recent experimental research in the psychology of music has shown several discrepancies between theoretic struc­tural concepts and perceived music structure. Accordingly, music theory cannot be founded on perceptual processes completely. Creation in music (improvisa­tion, composition) has not been studied by music psychology in detail despite the fact that music theory was a domain of composers and musicians for a long time. So, especially research in this field seems to be promising for joint projects of music psychology and music theory.

At the end of the 19th century aesthetics was established in philosophy as the science of beauty and the arts. However, the misconception was that beauty was looked for at the objects themselves. The basic idea that the comparison of beautiful objects must necessarily lead to the appearance of the phenomenon of beauty has not been successful (distillation theory), the nominalization of beauty has been abandoned. The beautiful object is no longer the center of examination, but the experiencing and judging individual: aesthetics became a field of scientific psychology. That objects are called beautiful is conceived of as a predicate that is not or not only dependent on the object. Aesthetic phe­nomena are not restricted to the fields of music, literature, painting etc. but are also to be found in everyday life, the experience of nature included. Thus a lot of research fields emerged which should be viewed in a nutshell provided that the aim of having one single theory of aesthetic experience is retained. Can this be successful?

This article gives an overview of research into the subject ringtones of mobile phones. Essential theoretical insights and previous empirical findings are sum­marized. They concern the technology of ringtones, cultural differences in the use of ringtones, the function of ringtones as part of lifestyle, identity founder, means of distinction, cultural performance and trigger of memory as well as the influence of ringtones on soundscapes through dissolving the boundary between public and private space. In addition an explorative study is presented, which investigates whether there is a correlation between music preference in general and the choice of the personal ringtone. Therefore 135 passers-by of a municipal pedestrian precinct (9-56 years old, 52 female, 83 male) were asked with the aid of a standardized interview instruction. Among other things it comprised the request to play the standard ringtone of their own cell phone. Other questions concerned the general music preference, the reasons for choosing this ringtone and its origin. Correlations between the preferred music genre and the selected ringtone genre became clear. Technology and origin of the ringtone as well as the reasons for choosing ensured a correspondence between ringtone preference and music preference of varied strength. The age of the interviewees also proved to be of importance.

In the following survey, students (n = 142) in grades five and six (age 10 to 12 years) were asked whether they enjoyed singing in general and singing in their high school music classes. This question is essential since a positive attitude to­ wards singing is necessary when considering singing in a choir, for instance. The students reported that in general they enjoy singing and that they agree that singing gets better with practice: it is therefore a learnable skill and not an innate talent. Taking pleasure in singing is dependent on several factors, notably mood regulation and the expression of one's emotions. Furthermore, students who enjoy the songs in music classes and who like their teachers also experience a greater joy in singing. In the fifth and sixth grade, students' attitude towards singing is still positive; however, this can change during the course of puberty (Behne, 2009). By estab­lishing choirs with a repertoire in pop music or by promoting rock bands at schools, music teachers could extend their scope and reach more students. Ad­ditionally, it is worth discussing whether the reduction in required music classes in grades seven and eight, as is the case in Lower Saxony, happens at an unfa­vorable moment, namely when developmental changes occur in the everyday use of music and the singing voice of the students changes profoundly. Regular music lessons with both theoretical components and music making continue to be of major importance to adolescents.

The question which kinds of incentives of musical practice within the groups of music students at university and music school level has not been investigated sufficiently within the field of music psychology and music education. Motiva­tional psychology suggests taking into consideration incentives concerning achievement (making progress in playing the musical instrument), power (outperforming or impressing others) and affiliation (being accepted by the group of those making music). However, incentives could also be found in emotional experiences while practising (e.g. feelings of happiness), in flow-experiences (i.e. being completely absorbed in the activity) as well as in the consequences of practising. Furthermore, the ability to practise in spite of reluctance (i.e. the ability to use volitional control) can constitute an incentive as well. For the construction of a questionnaire the incentives of practising and mak­ing music were supposed to be gathered regarding their diversity and as precisely as possible. lt became apparent that different classes of incentives can be formed. Whereas the values of incentive classes for the 10 to 11-year-old music pupils (n = 39) are significantly higher than those of the 15 to 16-year-old music pupils (n = 44), there are only little differences between the 10 to 11-year-old music pupils and the students of teaching music (n = 44). Likewise, there are only minor differences between 15 to 16-year-old music pupils and students of teaching music concerning the preference of certain incentives. In all subject groups incentives concerning achievement and flow as well as a connection of group loyalty and flow are among the most preferred ones.