How to Play "Cool Kids" by Echosmith on Acoustic Guitar

In today's guitar lesson, we'll check out Cool Kids by Echosmith. If you dig pop as much as me, I'm sure you'll love playing this tune and trying out the vocal too. It's fun to play it solo, but you can really bring it to life in a band!

Cool Kids sounds wicked excellent on the acoustic guitar. We'll learn an easy open-chord version, so even absolute beginners can play it! Then we'll look at all the tricks that give it that Echosmith touch.

Now let's get stuck in and learn how to play Cool Kids by Echosmith in detail! To jam with Echosmith's original recording, you'll need a capo on the first fret.

Cool Kids by Echosmith - Easy Guitar Chords

The sequence for the Cool Kids is Em, C, G, and D. It repeats for the entire song! If you're following my Beginner Guitar Course, you learn these grips in the very early stages. Make sure you use air changes to get your fingers ready for beat 1 of the bar. :)

Check out the Chord Progression video chapter for a slow guitar and vocal demo of Cool Kids.

Strumming Pattern

When learning guitar, you should always allocate some time for playing songs along with the original recording. If you're a beginner, mute your strings and practice one strum per bar, making sure you change chords in time.

💡 The BIG secret of sounding awesome is to absorb and transmit the vibe of the song. Jamming with the original Echosmith recording is one of the best ways to do that!

When you're comfortable playing the chord progression, it's time to experiment with strumming patterns! The Old Faithful pattern works well, but you'll notice it gets really boring since Cool Kids only has one chord sequence. To keep it interesting for the listener, you'll need to spice it up.

Change Up Your Dynamics

If you're a new guitarist, the easiest way to keep the listener engaged is by changing the dynamics using several strumming patterns. Here's a cool trick:

Keep the verses really simple! Only strum on beat 1. Keep your strumming arm moving consistently!
Towards the end of the verses, add a few up strums - don't worry about counting, but keep a steady rhythm.
Lift the volume in the chorus and make it sound fuller. The Old Faithful strumming pattern we've learned sounds great for most pop choruses. :)

Instill the habit of changing patterns - it'll serve you for the rest of your journey and make your playing stand out.

💣 Master Your Dynamics: Dynamics are so important that I made a whole course on 'em. ;) Take your rhythm guitar to the next level with my Strumming Dynamics course.

Cool Kids by Echosmith - How to Play the Verse Guitar Riff

Let's look at how to make our playing sound like the original Echosmith recording of Cool Kids - things are about to get trickier! I suggest you adapt these techniques to fit your playing level and goals. Remember to keep it fun - and you can always revisit songs to improve them as you learn new skills!

🔥 Sing and Play: If you've just started out on guitar and want to sing along, don't miss out on my 10-step method for singing and playing at the same time.

Are you familiar with power chords? If so, you won't have a hard time playing the Cool Kids riff. We start with an E5 then switch to a two-note C6 chord - get ready for some finger stretching! :) We finish with G5 then add a couple of notes to lead back to E5.

In this riff, we pick out the notes from these chords. You can figure it out by ear or watch the video for all the details.

💡 C6 Options: The original C6 is pretty stretchy, so we look at a couple of easier options. C on string 6 and A on string 4 are only one fret apart, as are C on string 5 and A on string 3. Failing that, you can go for a regular C5 power chord. :)

Remember you're using a capo. This means the root-5 E5 is seven frets above the capo, so its real name is F5. If you want chords, tabs, and lyrics to follow along with this tutorial, check out JustinGuitar Tabs.

Cool Kids by Echosmith - Chord & Strumming Alternatives

There are a few chord grips that add extra character to the song. You'll sometimes completely change your sound just by changing the bass note of the chord! I like playing C/G, CMaj7, or CMaj7/G instead of C. :)

I also go for Gadd9 instead of G by adding finger 2 to fret 2 of string 3 to the basic G grip. As for the D, I often play D/F# or Dadd9add11. ;)

🤔 Dadd... what? Don't worry about the name - it's kinda irrelevant, and this chord is way easier than it sounds. Think of it as a C chord moved up two frets!

These are some ideas. Explore them, then try out other options, and see if you can add your own personality to the song. :) You can also integrate the riff into your strumming. It'll make things trickier, but it sounds awesome! Let's have a look.

Repeating Guitar Riff

The Echosmith guitarist plays a lovely bass riff that repeats throughout the tune. All the notes are from the open E minor pentatonic scale, EGABD, (relative to the capo; harmonically it's the F minor penta), and it's played at a slow tempo. It's a good idea to figure it out by ear. ;)

If you're in standard tuning, you'll need to end on the note one octave above what's on the original. This is because it's lower than the lowest note we have! You end on the open D string, which harmonically is Eb.

An alternative is to retune the thickest string down one tone (to Eb). That's the final note in the riff. But this means you need to rework the rest of the riff, and the rest of the song!

🎸 Accurately Tune Your E String Down with this lesson on drop D tuning.

If you're playing solo, I suggest you integrate this riff into the chords because it sounds a bit empty on its own. It's best to do this in standard tuning or it gets a bit sticky. :) There are a couple of steps to this.

First, play this Echosmith riff as though you were strumming the guitar to get used to the action you'll need. Keep the hand moving up and down even when not hitting any notes. :) Once you've done that, strum the rhythm guitar with the chords, and play the riff when it falls.

Plenty to get working on here - you better get practicing, eh? ;) Enjoy!

👉 Ready for more? Check out over 700 guitar song lessons for all levels!