Howdy, y'all! A little backstory, been playing for a little over 20 years. Always been a rock/metal player. I've always been completely self taught, other than my dad showing me Smoke on the Water on the high E string. Everything I've learned to play I've learned from tabs, and everything I've ever written I've just used the methods and techniques I've learned from the songs I know. I know 0 scales, 0 music theory, really anything conventional when it comes to playing.

So, I'm starting to get back into playing pretty heavily. I'm itching to get better, and I want to know from the community, what you all think I should focus on to improve, well, everything about my playing. I think I'm pretty good, but I also think I'm pretty choppy when playing a lot of times. As far as particular genre that I play the most, it's mostly metalcore. I can write and play some awesome riffs, but I know I could make them better with a more refined and educated approach to things. Biggest thing I'd like to improve on is being able to improvise when jamming with some friends, and shredding/soloing (techniques typically used/things to practice/how to improve on writing a solo).

Thank you in advance you beautiful people!