MySQL is a popular open-source relational database management system. One of the most common tasks you'll perform in MySQL is executing queries to retrieve data from the database. Here's how to do it:

SELECT * FROM my_table;

This is the basic syntax for executing a query in MySQL. In this example, we're selecting all columns and all rows from a table named "my_table".

If you want to only select specific columns, you can list them after the "SELECT" keyword:

SELECT column1, column2 FROM my_table;

You can also add conditions to your queries using the "WHERE" keyword:

SELECT * FROM my_table WHERE column1 = 'value';

In this example, we're selecting all columns and rows from "my_table" where "column1" is equal to the value "value".

If you want to limit the number of rows returned, you can use the "LIMIT" keyword:

SELECT * FROM my_table LIMIT 10;

This will limit the results to the first 10 rows returned.

Overall, executing queries in MySQL is a straightforward and powerful way to retrieve data from your database.