The Five Stages of Focus For the Guitar

Develop. Laser-Like. Focus.

FOCUS Is the Key to All Real Progress on the Guitar!

WATCH THE FIVE STAGES OF FOCUS WORKSHOP It's FREE and it will forever change the way you look at guitar... and you can begin watching it on the next page.

TXG Is Here to Change Everything.

Four years ago, we decided that we were not interested in making marginal improvements to a flawed system. Instead, we committed to going after a Moonshot. How TXG is DIFFERENT:

Master The Art of Focus

Our solution is precisely the opposite of conventional approaches to guitar learning and improvement.

As we’ve discovered in the hundreds of conversations we’ve had with players, most are living in the Land of Confusion brought on by playing “Lesson roulette” on YouTube or other guitar platforms and are frustrated with their progress.

Many we’ve spoken to, even accomplished players, feel like they are just not getting great results out of the effort they are putting into their playing. In other words, low Return on Effort (ROE).

ROE just means the return you get from your practice time and effort.
We're Not Artists

Here’s the thing… we are not artists; we are business people (and I mean that in a good way).

We've spent our entire adult lives making things work, delivering value to customers... optimizing systems and processes. Focusing on efficiency and effectiveness.

In a business environment, if you don't deliver value as promised, you go out of business or lose your job.

Revolutionary Solution

We have created a revolutionary solution that approaches this challenging problem from a new perspective.

We hold ourselves accountable to the idea that our players will ACTUALLY improve on the guitar - not just consume content.

Because we believe that content without results is a waste of time and effort.

Everything on the TXG Platform is here to enable you to FOCUS on the correct lessons… in the right order and take each lesson to a level of actually being able to USE it in your playing.

What we refer to as “Automated.”
We Provide Coaching

Rather than delivering content for "consumption" (which is the majority of what you see online), we provide coaching on how to become an “Expert” at developing Usable skills on the guitar. We also provide practice tools to help you get more out of every minute you have the guitar in your hands.

We’ll show you how to focus the right amount of attention on the learning process so you can start getting better at getting better.

LEARN MORE

The real problem with guitar learning is that the teacher and student have misaligned goals.
When learning online, the goals are even less aligned because the student typically has no control over the rate of lesson delivery.
Guitar instructors on YouTube are rewarded for something entirely different than your incremental improvement.

THE REAL

PROBLEM

Are you truly committed to learning guitar… but disappointed with your progress... then I’m pretty certain you are “Doing It Wrong!”

Have you considered that taking a self-directed approach to guitar learning could be robbing you of playing the way you’ve always dreamed?

Even if you’re getting in-person instruction from a world-class teacher… at the end of the session, you’re on your own until your next lesson.

My question is, how good are you at directing your own learning? Do you make extraordinary progress on your own? If not, you’re likely miles away from living up to your true potential on the guitar.

LEARN MORE

THE ROADBLOCKS TO SUCCESS ON THE GUITAR

We've been there, done that, gotten the band tee...

ONE

Not knowing what skills and techniques are required to successfully play the songs that you want to play.

TWO

Not knowing what you should be practicing, and in what order, to have real skills that are actually usable on the guitar.

THREE

Falling into the trap of working on too many things at once and never getting good at anything you're practicing.

But here's the thing: the TenX Focus Accelerator System solves all of these problems, and then some!

LEARN MORE

You've Never Made Rapid Improvement Like This!

The Five Stages of Focus

The TXG Focus Accelerator System for guitar includes course materials and support based on proven principles from business, education, the military, and software development.

The Five Stages of Focus For the Guitar

Stage 1 - Focus On Your "Why Power": Most effective guitar practice requires advanced problem-solving skills. Making rapid improvement on the guitar is really just a matter of continuously solving problems, one after another. You know you’ve solved the problem when you can do the thing you previously couldn’t do at a high level.
Stage 2 - Know What to Focus On and In What Order: In our conversations with hundreds of players, we learned that this is the most common challenge expressed by players who are not moving forward as quickly as they would like. In short, they don’t know what to work on when. So, most float about from topic to topic and don’t really improve at a rate that keeps them coming back.
Stage 3 - Actually Focus On What Matters: Focus is among the most powerful effort multipliers that exist. By narrowing your concentration to a few well-chosen lessons (I don’t know, from your personalized well-defined roadmap), you can learn them more quickly and to a higher level with less effort. This will supercharge your "Return On Effort".
Stage 4 - Focus On Taking Every Lesson to a Usable Level: You need to understand that you’re working against your brain and your basic human nature. The brain wants to discard information that it thinks is unimportant to conserve resources. You are shooting for "Automation", where you can use a skill that you have learned without thinking about it. We call this a "Usable Skill."
Stage 5 - Focus On Skill Accumulation: This is the whole point of learning to play the guitar in the first place! To make real music on the instrument with the skills you are developing.

LEARN MORE

Even If You Are Taking Lessons From Joe Bonamassa…

You still have to be skilled at being able to FOCUS... due to the fact that you'll be on your own until your next lesson!

WATCH THE FIVE STAGE OF FOCUS WORKSHOP

It's FREE and it will forever change the way you look at guitar... and you can begin watching it on the next page.

START THE FIVE STAGES OF FOCUS WORKSHOP

Our Team

Our mission is to build the most improved community of guitar players in the world.

FOUNDER & ACCELERATED LEARNING COACH

Dean Strickler

Dean is an entrepreneur, productivity hacker, guitarist, golfer, husband and father. He’s spent nearly his entire adult life as an entrepreneur. His last "real job” was back in 1987, right about the time he walked on fire with Tony Robbins.

HEAD OF PLAYER EXPERIENCE, COACH & CO-CREATOR

Bill Huang

Bill started his musical journey as a drummer in 1980 and practiced diligently until life and the impracticalities of a drum set and apartment living converged. He then took up the bass guitar and worked hard at that for a few years until career and family interrupted that effort. After becoming an accomplished software developer and leader, he took up bass again in 1999.

HEAD OF MARKETING, COACH & CO-OWNER

John Quinlan

Quinney started playing guitar in the late 70s as a teenager living in London, England. After a couple of years of playing, he shifted to bass when a band he knew needed a bass player. After that experience, he shifted back to guitar and spent time learning scales, riffs, and chords. Through the years, guitar became less important. There was college, three children and a 30-year career as an executive at iHeart Radio.

LEARN MORE

What Others Say

Rick Stickney

TastyGuitar.com

"Do yourself a favor, if you are a guitar player, and want to dramatically increase your playing ability, join TenX. I promise you, You’ll Get Better At Getting Better!"

Tim Leslie

TXG Player

"Since I have started I have sent in personal videos of myself playing my guitar and received great advice of methods that can help me improve my playing and speed. Yes, I have to put in the effort and time, but now I have directions and a Roadmap to lead me in the right direction, this in itself can get to your destination so much quicker."

Jules Sanchez

TXG Player

"I've only been working with TenX for a few weeks, but I've been consistent with it every day and I have to say I'm amazed at how much better I'm playing and sounding, not only on the exercises themselves, but on EVERYTHING.

I find myself looking forward to the practice each day because I know what to work on."

Jim Fox

TXG Player

"I am a 65-year-old physician who has always lived to fool around playing some riffs and chords on the guitar, a total beginner, never really knowing how to play a complete song. I even took a few lessons a couple of times and learned a few more riffs and even the blues scale.

Then, when cruising the internet, I saw Dean's TenX program. He summed me up perfectly. I never had a plan to get good at guitar. It made total sense so I've been doing it for a couple months and I am amazed at the way this plan works and keeps me motivated to practice and to really become a musician.

I love the TenX program. Thanks Dean."

Tom Rogers

TXG Player

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I join TXG without going through the TenX Fives Stages of Focus Workshop?

The only way to become a TXG member... is through this vital training. This ensures that our members are fully aligned with the values and framework that are used within TXG.

What makes TXG different from other online guitar learning platforms?

We created TenX Guitar. TXG is a system for Guitar learning that includes content and tools based on proven principles from business, education, the military, and software development.

Our goal is to help all players improve and begin to enjoy the instrument more than ever.

We want to eliminate stress and the feeling of being overwhelmed. We want our players to make rapid progress and have FUN while doing it.

We deliver a solution that helps players at all levels realize their goals on guitar… or in any area of life that requires learning something challenging.

Here’s the thing… we are not artists; we are business people (and I mean that in a good way).

We've spent our entire adult lives making things work, delivering value to customers... optimizing systems and processes. Focusing on efficiency and effectiveness. In a business environment, if you don't deliver value as promised, you go out of business or lose your job.

We have created a revolutionary solution that approaches this challenging problem from a new perspective. We hold ourselves accountable to the idea that our players will ACTUALLY improve on the guitar - not just consume content. Because we believe that content without results is a waste of time and effort.

Is TXG a good fit for someone just getting started on the guitar?

When first picking up the guitar, one of the biggest challenges is the fact that "you don't even know what you don't know." It's so easy to follow the herd online and take a path that leads to frustration and overwhelm.

We believe that if you follow a proven strategy, you can make rapid improvement and play songs well ahead of those following a poor strategy.

HOME THE PROBLEM 5 STAGES OF FOCUS WHY TXG TXG TEAM CONTACT LOGIN WORKSHOP PRIVACY POLICY TERMS OF SERVICE