Yes, ditch the tabs, and you'll be free.

Practice jamming in your own room by starting with knowing the scales pretty well. then choose a song which you already know the key.

Then as the song/solo is being played, you'll begin to realise as you play along with the scale, they are all notes within the scale. so it's just a combination of where he played it, how he played it. Just spend time having fun first....

Then when you get to real live jamming - find the key, then play what you tried in your own practice sessions...
:D