My latest YouTube video outlines an exercise that can help you develop your improvisational skills using accents. This method is pretty easy to get going whatever your level of ability, you just need to be able to combine softer and louder strokes or taps and accents. The trick is to start with the simplest thing you can do in a relaxed way. In this case we start playing 16ths as taps and then add a few accents, first with the dominant hand then the non-dominant hand and then by combining hands. Next we play some accents on the toms and when that feels good, we add accents n the cymbals.
Check out the video to see how we develop some ideas for accent patterns and then put them into context as fills and solos.