Born in Korschenbroich, Tüpker first studied piano and percussion at the Musikhochschule Köln and then psychology, philosophy and musicology with direct graduation to doctorate at the University of Cologne.
In the work Musik im Märchen, published in 2011, Tüpker presented the results of more than ten years of research on the occurrence and significance of music in European folk tales.
In addition to statements on the musical instruments used, the perception of music as a profession, different fairy tale traditions, typical playing situations and the gender question, an interpretation pattern/typification of the motives was presented, while content analysis was developed from the text material of the fairy tale.
A more detailed in depth psychology analysis is devoted to the Brothers Grimms' fairy tales: Das Eselein and two fairy tales of Sinti and Romani people: The Creation of the Violin and Der Sohn kämpft gegen den Vater (The Son Fights Against the Father).
The investigations show the diversity of the concept of music in fairy tales and the clear traces of cultural and historical changes.