what's the secret to improvising???

[NEONMOONY]

simply pick up the right one
and play along

Well,........there it is in a nutshell.

[Rob Brown]

Lots of good advice and no doubt some of it will work for you. One of my main problems is willingness to screw up. I want it to be perfect the first time out. I have some licks but am reluctant to air them out sometimes. The ego thing gets in the way. I got some tongue in cheek advice from BRB to consider a brain transplant or lobotomy. So one of my big challenges right now is convincing myself I know enough to stand up and start. I'm working on that. Fortunately I really love the process, the journey. I play every day. I'm addicted.

[Ed Boyd]

If you make a mistake repeat it 2 or three times and make people think you drawing from jazz based influences.

[NEONMOONY]

Actually, they just think you can't get it right even after you tried it over again!

[colmanL]

look at blues as a language,and licks as words.as you learn more licks the more you can speak.
after you get to the point that you can speak more than child talk than you can start singing
the words you know.then you can use vocal things like,vibrato,slurs etc. the best players
always go past talking to singing on their instrument.improvising is improving on what you
got.so when you play,sing the song.....colmanL

[DRU LORE]

1. Drink a bunch of beer.
2. Play your guitar, making lots of mistakes, because, well, you're drunk.
3. Remember the mistakes the next day. There's all kinda cool stuff in accidents - New discoveries, new roads..

(Please do this in the privacy of your own home )

Good Luck and Soft Landings,

DRU

[too2tall]

Eric Clapton called it a leap of faith. There are exercises you can do to help but eventually its letting you inner voice take over and playing without thinking.
Of course solo's are generally better if you practice them but my experience is I play solo's best when I know the song really well but am still improvising to some degree each time I play it. Letting the feel of the moment enter into some of the licks. I never know what I am going to do until it happens and most of time I am really pleased with the results.