Additionally, you have to learn by osmosis. Listen, listen, listen, then emulate.
The truth is, we have to choose an artist and absorb his style, as a springboard lang. Listen until the lines sound familiar and try to get them under your fingers.
I too, started off as a rocker and made the painfully slow transition to jazz and bop. heck, i stilll struggle today! but the biggest impediment in the transition i learnt was the THINKING.
Rock guitarists think "linear". We identify the key, then run melodies over the changes, seldomly departing from a few scale tones.
Jazz musicians, on the other hand, play with more emphasis on chord tones, substitutions, and are heavily rhythmic ("it don't mean a thing, if you ain't got that swing" hahahaha, very very true!)
here's a (very very) basic practice recipe to help you, i'm gonna spill the beans-
1. try soloing of the standards utilizing ONLY the triad chord tones of each chord change.
2. connect the notes with chromatic tones
3. be STRICT with your time. try swing or bop quarter notes. speed doesn't matter yet, you have that na
4. sing your lines
5. grow a goatee, wear a berret and walk with steady swing feel (just kidding!)
these are just the basics. when i started just using the basic chord tones, i kept thinking about malmsteen! hahahaha! here's another thing you can add to tip no1, which will be your guiding reference FOREVER-
target the 3RD and 7TH interval of every chord at the change. you'll be surprised at the difference this makes. it'll change even your rock approach, and possibly, your entire life, just as it did to mine
![Wink ;)](http://talk.philmusic.com/Smileys/default/look_down.png)
for listening reference, i would suggest wes montgomery and tal farlow, but their technique and soul may inspire or scare you. i would suggest that a good guitarist to emulate is jim hall. he says so much using so little, emphasising on "painting" over the changes and has great rhythm. his style is beautiful and artistic. his "Concierto" album can be found at tower records, and features a fantastic band, Chet Baker on trumpet, Paul Desmond on alto saxophone, Sir Roland Hanna on piano, Ron Carter on bass and Steve Gadd. Listen to the interplay, and particularly Hall, Desmond and Chet Bakers lines. art in motion! Chet Baker too, is amazing. I mentioned before somewhere that Hall paints over the changes, while Baker embraces and carresses them.
oh, and propare for more headaches and pain. it can be very frustrating at first, but you'll be surprised that after studying the resources on the net and just listening, one day the circuits will connect and your fluency will accelerate
![Smiley :)](http://talk.philmusic.com/Smileys/default/haha.png)
good luck!