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Step 1
Find your chord progression, key and tempo, and practice until you have it down. To improvise well, you have to have your basic pattern in place.
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Step 2
Add notes to chords. This is a common guitar improv technique: a C major will become a C major 7, or a G will be a G suspended. In other words, you're adding a note to a basic chord. Improv by trying out notes and listening to which ones sound good with a particular chord.
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Step 3
Set up a melodic fretboard pattern. Use a pentatonic scale (5 notes in an octave) to visualize which notes fit into the key you're playing. This is a step toward being able to "bend" the pattern without creating too much dissonance. Work through a pentatonic scale with a chord playing in the background to hear what it sounds like.
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Step 4
Add specific flourishes to solo lines. Do a walk-up of half-steps or add "in-between notes," as long as you end on a note that fits the scale. Branch out into improv, and then get back into the scale; your improv will get better over time.
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Step 5
Use rhythmic improvisation. If melodic line playing isn't your thing, you can create different sounds by playing parts of chords in creative rhythms (along to a drum if there is one). Try selecting a few strings and picking them in inventive ways for a different sound.
