What sets Étienne apart from other educational performers is that many different styles of music (from rock, grunge and blues to hip-hop, dance and reggae) are used. Each track on the CD "La danse des araignées", for example, is played in a different style; from the thumping club dance beat of "Avoir II," the reggae rhythms of the title track and the hip hop throw-down style of "Mon, Ma Mes," to the hard rock song "Sans erREur" and the patriotic rock track "Vive le Canada."

The music of Étienne breaks down many barriers. "Many people believe that students these days don't like to sing and are hard to please or motivate... that simply is not true if you come to them with something that is interesting to them and suits their tastes." Teachers have praised the music as heaven sent. Each song effectively teaches verbs, adjectives and other grammatical and thematic structures facilitating learning in a current way. "That is probably the number one testimony I hear from teachers. They all marvel how their 'hard to reach' grade seven to ten students get into the music. They sing the songs in the halls, outside of class, it's as popular as whatever they may be listening to on the radio. All of a sudden, learning French is cool."