u/UsualWaterTwo88

I’m an intermediate pianist with an okay grasp of music theory, and a specific appreciation of jazz piano.
One of my big issues has been implementing blues scales into somewhat normal music.
When I’ve asked my friends (more advanced pianists than me) how to improvise, they often say just play a blues scale, which I’ve grown to understand.
But what I’m missing is how to implement that into traditional music.

For example, saying I’m playing a “jazzy” version of a pop song, using 7th, 9ths, 11ths, etc, instead of the tradition triads. If I decent to go into an improvised piano solo using the c major blues scale, it still feels off.
I’m absolutely sure I’m just not understanding something theory wise, but I don’t understand what it is.
Thanks for your help in advance!

A quick backstory to show how I “messed” myself up. I was a Synthesia baby, and was self taught on the piano from age 13-18 from those YouTube videos with no explanation. Now I got pretty adapt at the “playing” itself, playing pretty advanced pieces from those crappy videos alone.

However, at age 25, I’m picking piano up again and trying to learn from sheet music this time. I still have a lot of the old songs memorized, and I’m finding it very difficult going from playing songs like March of The Toy Soldiers or NY State of Mind to songs akin to Hot Cross Buns.
This is already frustrating, and any advice on that is welcome as well.

But I’ve come to realize I have absolutely no grasp on what rhythm is *supposed* to be on sheet music. It’s a little different when playing something by ear, but even though I can conception-ally tell you what “swing” is, or what syncopated notes are, I still struggle intensely. Hell, I find it hard to play eighth notes even with a metronome.

Have I really screwed myself, or is there a way out of this?