Another thought:

I think there's a clear difference in implication between "learned from" and "learned from the singing of". Sure, it's not absolute, because you can learn from the singing of Joe Blow, whom you know and hear on Saturday nights, but he took you aside after the session and sang it for you privately, but that's nit-picking. "Learned from the singing of", to me, clearly implies a more remote relationship than "learned from".

Dave Oesterreich