In this viewpoint it is suggested that recent research and authorship in the evolutionary psychology (EP) of music can provide musicians and educators with an enriched understanding of the adaptive role of music in human life. Within a climate of continual educational reform in which music is often marginalised from other mainstream curricular elements, an EP perspective draws repeated attention to the significance of music by addressing fundamental questions such as: What is it for? Why do humans do it? Why do we still have music? Wouldn't we be better off doing something else with our time, money and energies? While still a nascent area of research, the implications of the EP framework for our understanding of human musicality are considerable.