 John was first educated at Westminster School and then at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he matriculated c. 1597, became a scholar in 1599, graduated BA in 1602, and proceeded MA in 1605.He was incorporated at Oxford on 10 March 1606.Between 1611 and 1621 he was secretary for nine years to John King, bishop of London, as well as professor of music at Gresham College from 1610 to 1638 (drafts of some of his lectures survive, as British Library, Sloane MS 2329).