Although Henry heard a lot of music around him he did not have proper music lessons until he was already quite old. When he was 14 he learned to play the organ. He also played the piano and violin. When he was 16 he went to the Royal Academy of Music where he had lessons in piano, organ, composition and singing. He wanted to become a singing teacher, and he did in fact give singing lessons all his life. He became good at the piano so that he could accompany singers.