“They Call the Wind Maria” was written by Alan J. Lerner and Frederick Loewe for their 1951 Broadway musical, Paint Your Wagon. It became a favorite of folksingers in the 1960s and was recorded by The Kingston Trio, The Smothers Brothers, and Doc Watson among others.

This song uses “Travis Picking” fingerstyle accompaniment on the ukulele. Many of my songs use the same technique and it’s simple once you get the hang of it, although it may take quite a bit of practicing it slowly to master it. The first three example patterns on my fingerstyle tutorial show you how to play it.