Thanks for the responses. I reckon Uncle Dave summed it up very neatly:

'I think there's a clear difference in implication between "learned from" and "learned from the singing of"..."Learned from the singing of", to me, clearly implies a more remote relationship than "learned from".'

So whether you were sitting in the back row of a folk club or listening to a record, you have actually heard their rendition. Stressing it's "from THE SINGING of" doesn't seem to me to imply you were actually acquainted with them

Another phrase I've heard, and it's mentioned above, is "I had this from...", but that somehow stirs an awful echo of Julian and Sandy, "ooh, you had it from him, did you?"