I suggest a small to medium sized shaker, use one with a heavier or thicker gauge of plastic. Find a comfortable way of holding it, make sure the bottom of the shaker strikes the top part of your darbuka. As far as where to strike it I typically aim for the 11 o'clock position. This is a good dual method, first you are developing split finger technique as well as the communication between the hands. You can also reverse roles, left hand holds the shaker and right hand plays the split finger strokes. If you are looking to improve hand speed, you can use what I call "threshold training" pick a tempo that is just a bit fast for you to deal with. For example play quarters using the shaker at 120 BPM"s, then play constant 16ths without stopping. If 120 (for example) is too fast back the BPM's down to 115, but try and keep the tempo at that breaking point. Keep a record of your progress, lets say week one you are just hanging on for 4 measures at a particular tempo, week two it becomes easier etc. You will soon look back at the improvements, obviously you have to enjoy practicing.
Practice method suggestions: The shaker holds an even quarter note pulse and the other hand cycles through different note values. 8ths, 16ths, 8th note triplets etc. At mid tempos you will also find it easy to transition into 6/8. Now you have opened up a whole new list of possibilities. Look below for notation and practice ideas.
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