One of the features I like about Sitecore Rocks is the built in the query analyzer. This has speed things a long when I needed to create simple queries or test some more complex ones. To use the query analyzer is very simple.

Right click on an item and select Tools|Query Analyzer.

This is the screen that appears. Notice on this screen there is also a link to a XPath builder if that is what you prefer.

Simple query, but I like that you can use syntax like T-SQL. You will need to convert it to XPath syntax though if you are using this Sitecore query in your code. Please not the Insert Path and Insert Field links. Those are great shortcuts for building your queries.

So that is the simple overview of the query analyzer. Let me know if you have any questions thanks.